<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>One More Take (For Old Time's Sake) by NightOwl1600</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23719666">One More Take (For Old Time's Sake)</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/NightOwl1600/pseuds/NightOwl1600'>NightOwl1600</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Vigilante: Boku no Hero Academia Illegals - Fandom, 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Dadzawa, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Eri is adopted by Aizawa and you can't change my mind, Fix-It of Sorts, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Its platonic love galore in here, Kurogiri is Shirakumo Oboro, No editing we die like Obro, SPOILERS FOR BNHA CHAPTER 253, SPOILERS FOR VIGILANTES CHAPTERS 59-65, Shinson, Sorry but also I curse a little bit just to add flavor, THEY WILL BE REUNITED, This friendship is so important to me and they need to be reunited, also go read that, dadmight, this was supposed to be a one shot but now its multichapter help, we can ship whoever you want just squint</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 22:08:43</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>33,046</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23719666</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/NightOwl1600/pseuds/NightOwl1600</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Its the first time Shirakumo has been awake since the incident at the Tasomiya Ward. But there's something wrong. He doesn't know what happened, or where any of his friends are. And why was the hospital staff treating him like a criminal? Not to mention whatever the heck was going on with his quirk (his puffy cute clouds are now purple mist spots?). He needs to get to the bottom of this.</p><p>He needs to find his friends.</p><p>Or Shirakumo is back but now has to face his new reality of living 15 years into the future and figuring out whatever the hell happened between what he last remembers and now. Old friends will be reunited, new friends will be made, and bridges will be burned as Shirakumo retraces his steps and learns what it really means to love others.  </p><p>INSPIRED BY THIS BEAUTY: https://furioustheowlboy.tumblr.com/post/190500984480/i-have-some-predictions-do-not-repost<br/>AND ALSO THIS: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22622485</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead &amp; Shirakumo Oboro &amp; Yamada Hizashi | Present Mic, Dadgiri - Relationship, Kayama Nemuri | Midnight &amp; Shirakumo Oboro, Kurogiri &amp; Dabi, Kurogiri &amp; Giran, Kurogiri &amp; Shigaraki Tomura | Shimura Tenko, Kurogiri &amp; Toga Himiko</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>427</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>684</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Fics That make the cars go boom</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. What's the last thing you remember?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">


        <li>
            Inspired by

            <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22622485">Awake...?</a> by <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/AkseeDragon/pseuds/AkseeDragon">AkseeDragon</a>.
        </li>

    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>hey so I just got into the fandom and it is hella amazing but also please excuse my inaccuracies. I'm still reading the manga but essentially I skipped a lot of parts so I can just read what I wanted, which was anything involving the cloudboi. So this is based on everything I knew about the cloudboi so far, which I think is all of it.</p><p>Anyways, this was heavily inspired by the art posted on tumblr (link is in the summary) and also the fic (also in summary). If you have time, definitely try going over those. </p><p>I'll be trying the post chapters as soon as I'm done. So far I'm giving this like a 3-4 chapter story arc. Maybe 5 if I want an epilogue. Things are still up in the air. </p><p>As always, I don't own anything. Please don't sue me. Thanks.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><em>Beep...beep...beep...b—</em><br/><br/>That’s the first thing notices. The steady hum of beeping in the background, but it sounds distant, faded.<br/><br/>Then there are voices.<br/><br/>“...her quirk...”<br/><br/>“...don’t know the full exte...“<br/><br/>He knows these voices.<br/><br/>“...bout his memories? Will he remem...“<br/><br/>He’s very sure they are talking about him, but he’s so tired and his eyes are refusing to open.<br/><br/>Maybe someone can help him? He tries to get his mouth to move. The only sound he can make is a groan.<br/><br/>“I think he’s waking up.”<br/><br/>“He shouldn’t. We still have to monitor his condition. Can you-“<br/><br/>“On it.”<br/><br/>“...wait...” he tries to protest.<br/><br/>Before he can even process what’s happening, darkness pulls him back in.<br/><br/><strong>***</strong><br/>The next time Shirakumo Oboro wakes up, he is much more aware.<br/><br/>The beeping sound is still there, still steady, but the voices are gone. Finally, he is able to force his eyes open.<br/><br/>It’s takes a moment for his vision to focus, but eventually he’s able to assess his situation. He’s in some hospital clothes, lying in bed, in an all white room with one door and no windows. There’s a needle in his arm connected to what he thinks is an IV bag, and what he assumes is a heart monitor on his chest. He can also feel some weird things stuck on his forehead, like band-aids. Nothing is familiar and he is alone.<br/><br/>Was this...a hospital? But hospitals usually had windows, and where was everybody?<br/><br/>He tries to think about how he ended up here.<br/><br/><em>Work study with Purple Highness...walking with the kids...a villain, a big villain, the building was falling, Eraserhead—</em><br/><br/>Shirakumo gasps. He remembers the building falling on them. He knows he saved the kids with the cloud but what about Shota? And where was the villain? He’s pretty sure he heard Hizashi’s voice quirk too, was he ok? What about Kayama?<br/><br/>He needs to find his friends. Shirakumo tries to lift his arm, only for it to be held stiffly to his side by a strap. He tries to move his other arm and legs, but finds that each of his limbs are held down by similar straps. The feeling is sickeningly familiar, but he doesn’t know why.<br/><br/>“What the...?” Shirakumo can hear the sound of his heart monitor picking up.<br/><br/>It occurs to him that this might not be a hospital.<br/><br/>As he tries to pull himself free of the restraints, the door to his room slides open and a man Shirakumo doesn’t recognize comes in. Their eyes meet and the man freezes in place.<br/><br/>After a few seconds of awkward silence, the man finally speaks up. “Ah. You’re awake.” He takes slow steps towards the machines Shirakumo is hooked up to, checking the readings as he goes.</p>
<p>Shirakumo waits for the man to say something else, an explanation preferably about what the heck is going on and why he is strapped to the bed, but the man just continues his work while cautiously giving Shirakumo a side glance every few seconds.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“What’s going on?” he asks.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The man pretends not to hear him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Where am I?” he tries again.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The man gives him a concerned look but no response.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The sound of his heart monitor quickens again.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Why am I strapped to the bed? What happened to the villain? Where’s—” Before he can finish his sentence, the door opens again and a woman walks in, clipboard in hand, dragging a chair in with her.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Hi there sweetheart,” she grins endearingly. If he wasn’t strapped to the bed with no idea what was going on, he might have found it relaxing. “Sorry about my nurse. He’s a bit of a shy guy. I’m your doctor here.” She then turns her attention to the nurse, “Once you’re done checking his vitals, make sure you call his teachers. They wanted to know when he woke up.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The nurse nods and continues his work. Shirakumo doesn’t miss the way there seems to be some unspoken message relayed between the two.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The doctor pulls her chair up right next to Shirakumo’s bed and takes a seat. “Ok lets start with the basics. What’s your full name?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He hesitates but replies kindly. “Shirakumo Oboro, but shouldn’t the hospital already know that?” He can hear his voice waver at the end of that question. ‘Assuming this is a hospital’ goes unspoken.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Of course we know that, but we’re just checking to see that you know.” She answers as if that explains everything. She checks something off her clipboard and continues. “Next question, day of birth?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“May 5.” He pauses then questions, “Why am I strapped to the bed?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I’ll explain in a second honey, but we need to go through the procedure first.” The doctor refutes. “What are the names of your parents?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>There’s something that doesn’t feel right about this situation. He understands that the doctor wants to follow rules, but Shirakumo has never been one to strictly follow procedures anyways. Plus, assuming this isn’t a hospital, he might not want to give out so much information.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I want an explanation first.” He stands his ground. “What’s going on? What happened to the fight? And my teammate?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The doctor gives him a calculating look, as if she’s found something interesting in the question. She sighs and figures they won’t get anywhere if he’s freaking out anyways. “What’s the last thing you remember?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Shirakumo thinks back, “We were out patrolling during our work study. Then we got a call that there was a villain attacking and we needed to get some kids out of its path, but we were too slow. The guy was huge. My boss got thrown into a building. The building started to collapse. I heard Present Mic’s voice quirk. I made a cloud to protect the kids and their teacher, but after that everything gets fuzzy. I think I heard Sh—Eraserhead calling me. But then there’s nothing after that. What happened?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The doctor just hums and checks her clipboard again. “Everything is fine. The villain was defeated. And your friends are fine, too.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Shirakumo can barely accept that as an answer. “But then, where are they? And that doesn’t explain why I’m strapped down to the bed.” He lets just a hint of anger leak into his voice.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You were having nightmares,” The doctor explains. “You’ve been asleep for awhile, but you were still moving around a lot. Even set off your quirk a few times. We needed to tie you down so you wouldn’t hurt anyone, or yourself, and so we could help you.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He guesses that makes sense, but he’s never activated his quirk in his sleep, at least so far as he knows. Shirakumo nods, “Can I get them off?” he says, glancing down toward his hands. “I feel like I’m the bad guy or something.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“We just need to get through the procedure first, okay?” she gives him another reassuring smile.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Okay,” he agrees. “But the others are fine?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Don’t worry about them, Present Mic and Eraserhead are just turning in their paperwork at the Purple Revolution Agency.” She replies. “Lets just get through the procedures first and then we can call them, is that okay?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Shirakumo freezes. A chill goes up his spine.<em> She's lying.</em></p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Present Mic doesn’t intern with us.” He whispers under his breath.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I’m sorry sweetie, can you repeat that?” the doctor eyes him with caution.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Present Mic doesn’t intern at the Purple Revolution Agency,” Shirakumo says with more confidence this time. “And I never told you which agency I was under or who I was working for. Eraserhead and I work for His Purple Highness. Present Mic is with Buster Union.” He gives the woman a hard glare. “Where are my friends?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The woman’s composure finally falls a bit, just enough for Shirakumo to see that he’s right, but she’s quick to replace the façade. “I’m sorry…I…just give me a minute sweetie. I must have gotten the wrong information.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I want to get out of these,” Shirakumo states, tugging at his wrists again. He doesn’t hear the rapid acceleration of his heart monitor. “Where am I? What happened to the fight?” He’s struggling with all his might now. His cloud quirk won’t really be of any use in a situation like this. And he’d rather see his opponent then create cover at the moment.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Kid, listen,” the woman tries to pull his attention, but her tone is too calm and it makes Shirakumo more worried. “I need you to stop. You are irritating the needle in your arm. We’re going to get your friends. I just need you to—”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Suddenly the door to the room slides open and four other people come, in uniform, with weapons. They look like prison guards. This is definitely not a hospital.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He wants to leave.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The nurse comes in behind the rest of the group carrying a syringe already filled with liquid.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>There’s a flash in Shirakumo’s minds to a memory that he didn’t know he had. It’s a bad memory, a lot of pain, and fear. He doesn’t understand it, but he does know one thing.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Don’t come any closer!” he shouts at the nurse holding the syringe. He’s scared.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The nurse pointedly ignores Shirakumo’s plea and addresses the doctor. “He’s getting too agitated. His brain readings are all over the place. The warden said to put him out until the teachers get here.” He says as he preps the rest of the injection supply.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The doctor gives the nurse a glare but proceeds to help with the injection. “We’re just going to put you to sleep, okay sweetie?” She tells Shirakumo. “Just until the teachers get here. You are just very unstable right now, and we need to make sure you’re going to be okay.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Shirakumo doesn’t want this. He doesn’t want to go back to sleep in a place he doesn’t know with people he doesn’t trust wondering what happened to his friends. Its too sickeningly familiar for reasons he doesn’t even understand. He wants to get out of the straps and the bed. He wants to be able to move.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“This won’t hurt a bit, I promise.” The doctor tries to reassure him as the nurse holds his arm down for better access to his vein.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>As the doctor comes closer to him, Shirakumo focuses on his quirk, hoping that maybe if he puts a dense cloud between him and them that it will be enough to keep them away. Maybe if he could find something to cut through the straps, he could make a run for it towards the hallway just outside the door.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>But instead of a nice fluffy cloud appearing in front of him, its some kind of purple mist that appears below him. Suddenly, he’s falling through it.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It goes dark for a few seconds as he free falls through the mist. The needle in his arm is ripped out and he can already feel the blood dripping out as he lands gracelessly on his back, free from his bonds.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Where’d he go?” he hears one of the guards exclaim from behind him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>But that didn’t make sense, weren’t they just in front of him?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He turns around and realizes that the guards, and the entire room he was just in, is now behind him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He’s in the hallway.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>How did he get in hallway?</p>
<p> </p>
<p><em>Doesn’t matter</em>, he ultimately decides. Before the guards can even sense him behind them, Shirakumo dashes as fast as he can away from them.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>First things first, he needs to figure out if they have his friends and where they might be now.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. There’s a Teenager Running Around Tartarus</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Im back. Here's another chapter for those of us who can't get enough of our Cloudboi. </p><p>Also, did I change Shota to Shouta? Yes. Because Im hella confused but Shouta looks better than Shota to me. Someone pls tell me which one is right. I don't know anymore.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“You mean to tell me that there’s a teenager running free in the most secure prison in Japan?” Detective Tsukuachi reiterates in disbelief. Gran Torino gives an exasperated sigh next to him. The traffic on the road isn’t helping either of the men’s’ stress levels.</p><p> </p><p>“Look detective, we thought you were bringing Kurogiri over here. We were prepared for a villain, not the kid. We don’t have anything up to legal standards for minors. This is a prison, not a juvenile center. I’m not even sure if it was legal to bring him here.” The warden explains over the phone.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m sorry about that, sir.” Tsukuachi apologizes genuinely. “The information about him got jumbled up when reaching me and then the paperwork to get him out is still in process.” Despite the police siren being on, the standstill traffic would not move. It seemed like they would be stuck on the highway for a while. “I’m trying to get there as soon as possible. But can you explain to me how he escaped?”</p><p> </p><p>“A warp gate appeared beneath him, but it only went out to the hallway.” The warden recounts. “He’s got Kurogiri’s quirk but he seems to have no idea how to use it. He’s mostly just using it to warp to places within his sight, but he’s giving my guards quite the run around. He’s a slippery little fella.”</p><p> </p><p>“He was a second year UA student before the incident.” Gran Torino adds in. “Seems like his training paid off.”</p><p> </p><p>“Regardless,” the warden says. “We can’t have a teenager running around Tartarus. We’ve cornered him in a single wing, so he’s still far away from All For One and any other person of high danger, but I don’t want to take any chances. He’s scared, detective. I don’t think he remembers anything that happened after the incident. Is there any information that might help us calm him down?”</p><p> </p><p>“We already sent Eraserhead and Present Mic messages so they should be heading there soon. Gran Torino and I are in the car now too.” Tsukuachi appeases. “Please just try to stall him as best you can.”</p><p> </p><p>“Lets hope they get here quick. I don’t want to scare him more than we already have.” The warden admits in defeat and hangs up. Tsukuachi takes a deep, stressful breath.</p><p> </p><p>“Don’t blame yourself completely, Tsukuachi. He’s a very unique case.” Gran Torino bluntly comforts the detective.</p><p> </p><p>“They said they caught Kurogiri and there was a kid involved.” Tsukuachi explains. “With all the commotion over capturing Kurogiri again, I didn’t understand that they meant Kurogiri was the kid involved.”</p><p> </p><p>“I bet there’s nothing in the police academy that prepares you for when a high priority criminal turns into a 17 year old, is there?” the older man remarks sarcastically.</p><p> </p><p>Tsukuachi lets out a good spirited chuckle. They really did have a mess on their hands, didn’t they?</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p>Shirakumo doesn’t know how long he’s been running but it seems like he’s lost them for now. He’s currently hiding in a cabinet under the sink in what he thinks may be a break room for the guards. Luckily it was empty when he ducked inside, and there’s food. At least the one good thing in this nightmare is that he won’t starve.</p><p> </p><p>He opens the chip bag he stole from their table, starts eating, and takes a minute to calm down.</p><p> </p><p><em>Focus, assess the situation. Just like class. </em>He tells himself.</p><p> </p><p>There are about five things he knows for sure. One; this is not a hospital. It seems he’s been kidnapped. Two; his quirk is now generating purple mist portals rather than puffy clouds (not exactly the most aesthetic thing but he can work with it for now). Three; he can only open portals to places within his sight. Four; the last thing he remembers clearly is blacking out during the fight at Tasomiya. Five; for whatever reason, the guards are taking it easy while trying to catch him.</p><p> </p><p>Sure, Shirakumo knows he’s not the smartest in class, but he’s not dumb enough to believe that the guards couldn’t have caught him yet if they were really trying their best. He’s barely even got a grip on his quirk, mostly just using it to gain distance or narrowly avoid capture, but even so, he can see that these guards are better trained than what their giving.</p><p> </p><p>Its almost as if they’re afraid of hurting him, which gives him more questions than it does answers.</p><p> </p><p>Shirakumo fishes his hand into the chip bag, only to realize he’s eaten everything. He didn’t even realize how hungry he was until now. Come to think of it, he didn’t even realize how dehydrated he was until now.</p><p> </p><p>How long was he out for?</p><p> </p><p>There’s a water dispenser in the room, but going out would also mean leaving his hiding place. At this point though, if he still has to keep outrunning guards, he’d sooner or later pass out from dehydration. Risking it all for water it is then.</p><p> </p><p>Shirakumo peeps his head out of the cabinet to check if there’s anyone around. Luckily, the room is still completely empty and he can’t hear anyone running around the hallway. It seems that, for now, he’s safe.</p><p> </p><p>He quietly makes his way over to the water dispenser and fills up a cup, being sure to keep his surroundings in check. The last thing he needed was a sneak attack. That’s when he notices the newspaper haphazardly lying on the table beside him. He can clearly see the headline.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>VILLAIN DEFEATED AT TASOMIYA: PRA TO FACE MASSIVE REPRUCUSSIONS</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p><em>PRA?</em> Shirakumo thinks to himself, then realizes. <em>Purple Revolution Agency.</em></p><p>
  
</p><p>He downs his cup of water in one, fast gulp and picks up the paper. Its definitely about the fight him, Shouta, Hizashi, and Kayama were at. The villain lying unconscious on the frontpage picture is the one he remembers from the fight. He sighs in relief knowing that the villain was defeated.</p><p> </p><p>But as he continues to read the report, it seems that his relief may have been premature.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Purple Revolution Agency (PRA)’s His Purple Highness and Buster Union joined forces last Tuesday as a dinosaur like villain known as Garvey attacked the Tasomiya ward. Despite both parties being high ranked, neither were able to overpower the villain and were ultimately defeated. Despite this, a UA student intern from PRA managed to single handedly subdue Garvey and turn him over to the authorities. When reporters asked to interview the student, UA administration stated that the student would rather keep his/her identity anonymous and any attempts to contact the student would be considered a breach of privacy. </em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>Although the villain was defeated and there were no civilian causalities, another UA student intern also from PRA lost his life protecting young nursery children from a falling building. UA requests that the public allow the family and friends the space and time to grieve. </em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>This causality as well as forcing a single student to face a villain of this magnitude alone has now put into question the PRA and mounting pressure from the public on whether His Purple Highness is at fault for this. For a more in depth analysis of PRA’s responsibility in the incident see page 27.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>Shirakumo had to reread those three paragraphs several times over. He doesn’t notice his hands are shaking, nor does he notice his uneven breath or the way his eyes start to feel a bit wet. He had to be reading something wrong. There was no way this was true. It couldn’t be. He can’t accept this, not when it means…</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>—UA student intern also from PRA lost his life protecting young nursery children from a falling building—</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>…not when it means…Shouta….Shouta is…</p><p> </p><p>Shirakumo takes a deep breathe and tries to piece together a story. Hizashi was working with Sensoji and Buster Union that day, but him and Sensoji were probably defeated early on in the battle along with the rest of their agency.</p><p> </p><p>Kayama was evacuating other people from nearby houses, not the kids. Him and Shouta were with the kids. The building was falling on them.</p><p> </p><p>If it was a PRA intern that defeated Garvey, then it had to have been Kayama, because Shirakumo is sure he didn’t defeat Garvey, and he’s not dead, and Kayama wasn’t there when the building was falling.</p><p> </p><p>There was no other person it could have been. Shouta was with him interning at PRA, Shouta was with him at the Tasomiya ward, Shouta was with him trying to protect those kids. Shouta was there when the building was falling.</p><p> </p><p>There’s only one possible conclusion.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Shouta is dead.</em>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Bet you didn't see that coming did you? I really just needed that Oboro-Shouta angst. Personally I don't ship them, but tbh I really don't ship anyone. BUT HELL YEAH FOR ANGSTY PLATONIC RELATIONSHIPS. Honestly those platonics hit me so much harder than ships.</p><p>For those of y'all waiting for the other 2/3 of our dumbigos trio to arrive, don't worry, they'll be there soon.</p><p>I actually already have chapter 3 done but I think I'll post like every week just so its kinda spread out and gives me time to write. Hope you enjoyed!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Safe Place</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>AAAANd we're back with another chapter! Im gonna be honest I am having one hell of a writers block but I think Im coming around to it. Also, as a side, this is honestly my first fic for an anime/manga and Idk how to do the language difference. Like, Mr. Aizawa or Aizawa-sensei? Y'all choose Pls. I don't know anything about the language and im sorry for butchering it huhu. </p><p>In addition, because there is not enough Cloudboi angst in my life and I wanna share as much Cloudboi angst with y'all, try reading Back To Me by BookwormSid1015. My friends, it is so good. Like legit. If you want more Cloudboi angst (or should I say Cloudman huhuhuhu) pls give this a read. Its a WIP but its hella fine. Here's the link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22309474/chapters/53286487</p><p>Alright fam enjoy.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“All Might?” Midoriya called from the entrance of the teacher’s lounge.</p><p> </p><p>“Midoriya!” All Might greeted as he walked towards the boy. Beside him were Eri and the purple haired boy Aizawa was training, Shinsou. “What are you three doing at the teacher’s lounge so late? Its nearly sunset, shouldn’t you two be at your dorms?”</p><p> </p><p>“We were wondering if we could get permission to go to the store to buy some supplies for Eri,” Midoriya perks up. “We’re trying to make a DIY costume for her.”</p><p> </p><p>“Shouldn’t Eri be with Eraserhead right now?” All Might asks. Aizawa and Eri were becoming more and more like father and daughter everyday that it was hard to remember they weren’t yet (legally anyway).</p><p> </p><p>“Eraserhead needed to attend to something urgent,” Shinsou replies, shrugging in a ‘what-can-ya-do’ gesture. “He left in a rush and asked me to watch Eri since she was already with us during training. Eri wanted to see Deku, and now she wants to make a costume.”</p><p> </p><p>“Ah I see,” All Might nods. “Sure. I need to go buy some things from the store too anyways. I’ll escort the three of you.” As much as he trusts Midoriya, the last time All Might gave him permission to go to the store, he tried to take down Gentle Criminal on his own. The boy nearly gave the retired hero a heart attack when he wasn’t answering his phone at all. Don’t want a repeat of that. “What do you need to buy?”</p><p> </p><p>“A lot of toilet paper,” Eri says shyly.</p><p> </p><p>“Are you trying to make a mummy outfit?” All Might wonders.</p><p> </p><p>“No,” Shinsou answers with just the faintest of smiles that reminds All Might way too much of Aizawa. “More like, a capture weapon.”</p><p> </p><p>All Might lets out a hefty laugh. How cute.</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p>
  <em>Shouta is dead.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>Shouta is dead.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>Shouta is dead.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>That’s the only sentence that runs through Shirakumo’s mind. One of his closest friends in whole world, dead. Probably got crushed by the falling building.</p><p> </p><p>But Shirakumo swore he heard Shouta calling his name before he blacked out. Its fuzzy but he knows what he heard!</p><p> </p><p>Unless…</p><p> </p><p>Unless it was Shouta calling him for help as he was buried alive underneath the rubble.</p><p> </p><p>Shirakumo can’t stop the ugly sob from coming out. He knows he should be trying to be as stealthy as he can, he really does not want to be caught right now in such a vulnerable state, but he can’t help himself. The tears are streaming down his face. He wants a hug.</p><p> </p><p>Hugs make him think of ‘Zashi. He always gives great hugs.</p><p> </p><p>Where is Hizashi?</p><p> </p><p>Where is Kayama?</p><p> </p><p>Right, he still has two friends uncounted for.</p><p> </p><p>Shirakumo does his best to pull himself back together and try to make sense of things. The tears don’t stop falling though. He’ll just have to work through it.</p><p> </p><p>If the newspaper was anything to go by, he’d say that Kayama was probably safe with UA. The fact that UA knew Kayama wanted to stay anonymous means that she probably told them that (though Kayama never struck him as one to shy away from the spotlight). It wasn’t much to work with, but he felt it was a safe bet.</p><p> </p><p>That left Hizashi. Shirakumo knows he definitely heard Present Mic’s voice quirk before he blacked out during the fight, and Present Mic and anything about a Buster Union intern wasn’t mentioned in the newspaper. So maybe Hizashi was kidnapped too? Maybe Hizashi was here.</p><p> </p><p>He wonders if Hizashi knows about Shouta.</p><p> </p><p>He wonders how on earth he is supposed to <em>tell</em> Hizashi about Shouta if he doesn’t.</p><p> </p><p>Shirakumo feels the tears on his cheeks start to get stronger. He really can’t stop it. He needs to get his breathing under control too. He needs to find Hizashi and esca—</p><p> </p><p>“Oboro, sweetie?” the voice sounds innocent and kind, but Shirakumo knows better now.</p><p> </p><p>Shirakumo tries to wipe his tears away as the doctor walks in. She’s alone, but that doesn’t mean she didn’t bring back up. “Only my family and friends are allowed to call me that.” He tries to work his way through a sniffle but he’s not hiding anything.</p><p> </p><p>She closes the door behind her and raises her hands in a pacifying gesture. “I don’t want to cause you any harm.”</p><p> </p><p>Shirakumo levels a glare at the woman. He’s not the type to be rude but there’s a very high possibility that this woman knows who kidnapped him and where Hizashi is. “Strapping me to a bed, lying to me, and trying to force me asleep has proven otherwise,” he counters.</p><p> </p><p>She at least has the decency to look apologetic. “We didn’t mean to scare you, but we need you to calm down. Your brain readings are fluctuating in dangerous patterns and that could cause you serious injury.”</p><p> </p><p>“How do you know that?” Shirakumo suddenly feels compromised.</p><p> </p><p>“You never took the scanners off your forehead,” the doctor answers, pointing towards his head. “They transmit remotely.”</p><p> </p><p>Shirakumo reaches up to feel the bandage like scanners on his forehead. He’s been so busy trying to escape that he’d forgotten they were even there. Feeling them on his forehead pulls at a memory he can’t clearly see, of someone trying to hurt him. He rips off the scanners quickly.</p><p> </p><p>“Actually, maybe you should leave those on…” the doctor tries to argue.</p><p> </p><p>“Why? So you can keep prodding my brain?” Shirakumo snaps back as he throws the scanners onto the floor. “Thanks, but no thanks.”</p><p> </p><p>“Well, more because they were expensive but I can see where you might have gotten the prodding your brain idea.” The doctor tries to ease the tension with humor. Shirakumo doesn’t appreciate the joke. “Everyone here is just trying to help you.”</p><p> </p><p>Shirakumo doesn’t answer. He can’t tell if she’s being sincere or not, but as of the moment, there’s no other way out of this room than the door she’s in front of. He’s willing to bet that just behind that door are more guards. He’s been cornered.</p><p> </p><p>The doctor glances down at the paper in his hand and attempts to change the subject. “So, you’ve read the report about the accident?”</p><p> </p><p>Shirakumo tenses up. Hot tears swell up in his eyes again at the thought of it.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m sorry you had to find out that way,” she consoles. “I gave it to the guards to help them understand your situation. I guess they left it on the table. We were going to try to ease you into it slowly so it would be less of a shock. Do you have any questions about what happened?”</p><p> </p><p>“Where’s Present Mic?” Shirakumo demands. He’s done with her avoiding the important topics. He wants answers.</p><p> </p><p>“Your friend, Present Mic?” she clarifies.</p><p> </p><p>Shirakumo nods and feels his still flowing tears fall onto his neck.</p><p> </p><p>“He’s fine. He’s on his way here right now with Eraserhead.”</p><p> </p><p>“Liar!” Shirakumo shouts. The doctor flinches back a bit but remains in the room. “I know the truth now. Stop trying to sell me on a false sense of safety.”</p><p> </p><p>“I-I’m sorry, I don’t understand.” The doctor’s confusion looks truthful, but at this point, Shirakumo really can’t trust anyone.</p><p> </p><p>“I read the report. I know that Eraserhead didn’t make it!” Shirakumo argues. He hates that he’s crying while getting angry but the tears won’t stop. “Stop lying to me!”</p><p> </p><p>The doctor’s eyebrows pinch together like she’s trying to solve a puzzle. “Wait, who do you think died during the attack?”</p><p> </p><p>Shirakumo cannot believe the audacity of this woman. “My friend,” he answers with steely determination. It makes him sick to the stomach the way she seems so nonchalant about <em>his friend’s death</em>.</p><p> </p><p>And if that weren’t enough, this doctor, this demented, cruel doctor, <em>laughs at his answer. </em>“Okay, I can see that there’s been a huge misunderstanding, but you have got this situation all wrong.” She giggles again and facepalms herself, muttering under her breath, “Of course that’s what you would think. Because the truth simply isn’t logical.”</p><p> </p><p>There’s a frightening chill that creeps up Shirakumo’s back when the woman laughs. <em>How. Dare. She.</em> His best friend is <em>dead</em> and she’s <em>laughing</em>. “Stop that! My friend died a hero and I won’t let you mock his memory.” He proclaims. If he couldn’t protect Shouta at Tasomiya, he is damn well going to at least protect his memory now.</p><p> </p><p>That seems to snap the doctor back into focus. She covers her mouth and stifles the giggles until she can get herself under control. “No, no its not that.” She attempts to explain. “Trust me, you have the situation all wrong. I promise you, your friend is alive and he is coming here right now.”</p><p> </p><p>Shirakumo finally breaks. He raises his voice. “Enough! Every since I’ve woken up its been lies! I don’t know where I am! I don’t know where my friends are! I don’t…I don’t know…” he lets the rest of his sentence hang. He’s crying, but he’s furious, at the doctor and the guards, and at himself. He’s so confused and he’s practically trapped in here. Its such a familiar feeling, like he’s lived through this before, like he’s been trapped with no way out and he knows if he gets caught there’s only going to be pain. He doesn’t even know how he knows that.</p><p> </p><p>He needs to find a way out.</p><p> </p><p>“Honey, you’re hyperventilating. Just try taking a deep breath.” The woman looks at him with pity and tries to inch closer. But the moment she moves, Shirakumo is sprinting to the part of the room furthest away from her.</p><p> </p><p>“Don’t…” as much as he hates to admit it, she’s right. He’s having a really hard time breathing. “Just…just go away…”</p><p> </p><p>“I can’t, you’re going to hurt yourself.” She says in a calm voice. “I’m just going to stand right here, okay? And I’m not going to get any closer. I want you to think of a safe place and imagine yourself there. Try to slow down your breathing.”</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>A safe place? </em>
</p><p> </p><p>He closes his eyes and visualizes it in his head. The glass windows, the smell of grass, the way the sun and sky reflect off the building so beautifully, and the sound of his friends’ laughter.</p><p> </p><p>That place is safe.</p><p> </p><p>Shirakumo is so focused on visualizing this place, he doesn’t notice when a purple mist portal opens below him, he doesn’t hear when the doctor calls his name, and he barely even registers himself falling into the mist portal and hitting the concrete pavement.</p><p> </p><p>“Oof!” he cries as he once again faceplants gracelessly onto the ground.</p><p> </p><p>Before he even opens his eyes, he knows he’s outside. He can feel the warmth of the sun on his skin and the cool breeze in his hair.</p><p> </p><p>Shirakumo lifts his head up and opens his eyes. He’s greeted by the welcoming arc of UA highschool. Its sunset. There’s a wave of relief that washes over him. Its the entrance of UA. This place is safe.</p><p> </p><p>He rubs the part of his forehead that hit the concrete and feels a small cut. Pulling his hand down and away from his face only smears it more. He’s also pretty sure he’s scrapped up all over.</p><p> </p><p>Shirakumo staggers over to the wall and leans on it, trying to catch his breath. <em>Adding to the list of new quirk abilities, opening portals to places I can visualize in my head.</em> He thinks to himself. What the heck is going on with him?</p><p> </p><p>“Hey, young man!” a stranger shouts from down the street, reeling Shirakumo’s attention back to the present. “Are you alright?”</p><p> </p><p>Coming up the road, he can see four figures. A tall, skeleton like man with blonde hair, two boys around his age, one with purple hair and tired eyes, and the other with green and black broccoli like hair and freckles, both holding their own grocery bags, and lastly, a little girl with white hair and a horn coming out of her forehead. The girl looks vaguely familiar.</p><p> </p><p>The blonde man rushes forward to help him. “Young man, your bleeding in several places.” He states.</p><p> </p><p>Shirakumo looks down, and sure enough he’s covered in small scarps on his arms and a little bits of blood seeping through the knees of his pants. The most blood is accumulated on his arm where the IV needle got ripped out. “I don’t think I’m cut too deep.” He tries to alleviate the worry.</p><p> </p><p>“Nonsense, what happened?” the older man asks concerned.</p><p> </p><p>There’s a rush of adrenaline the spikes through Shirakumo. “Someone kidnapped me. I got away but I think they still have my friend!”</p><p> </p><p>“Where?” the green haired boy asks, looking like he’s about to square up for a fight.</p><p> </p><p>“I…I don’t know,” Shirakumo admits in defeat. “I think I opened a portal here…I don’t know what’s happening to me. I came here because I knew it was safe and my teachers would know what to do.”</p><p> </p><p>“You go to UA?” the purple haired boy asks.</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, hero course, second year.” Shirakumo answers.</p><p> </p><p>“Ah, sorry I didn’t recognize you. I mostly work with first years and I’m still getting to know the other levels.” The older man apologizes. Its strange but Shirakumo doesn’t think he’s seen this man before either. Maybe he’s one of the new teachers this year. The blonde man turns to the other two boys. “Midoriya, take Eri to your dorm for now. Shinsou, can you help me take this student to Recovery Girl?”</p><p> </p><p>Both nod. The purple haired boy, Shinsou, hands some grocery bags over to the green haired boy, Midoriya, and says goodbye to him and the little girl, Eri. Midoriya and Eri head into campus.</p><p> </p><p>Shinsou then comes up beside him. “Do you need help walking?” he asks.</p><p> </p><p>Shirakumo tests out his legs, to his surprise, his ankle does feel a bit on the sprained side. “I think I hurt my ankle.” He replies. Shinsou offers him some support, which Shirakumo gratefully accepts.</p><p> </p><p>The blonde man pulls out his phone and makes a call in a hushed voice. “Recovery Girl I think we need your assistance…” He says into the phone. “…No its not for Midoriya this time, we found a second year student outside in a pretty bad shape and he says his friend has been kidnapped. Can you call Nezu too?…Yes we’ll meet you at the nurse’s office…his name?”</p><p> </p><p>The man glances back down to him. “Sorry young man, I forgot to ask for your name.”</p><p> </p><p>“Shirakumo Oboro.” He answers.</p><p> </p><p>Suddenly Shinsou stiffens next to him. It’s a slight movement but its still there. He wonders what brought that on.</p><p> </p><p>“Shirakumo Oboro…thank you Recovery Girl, we’ll be there soon.” The man hangs up and looks to the two boys. “Don’t worry Shirakumo, everything is going to be okay.”</p><p> </p><p>“Thank you.” He nods gratefully.</p><p> </p><p>If Shirakumo were paying closer attention, he would have noticed how the Shinsou boy eyes him like he’d just crawled out of his grave, or the way the little Eri girl looks at him with a sense of kinship.</p><p> </p><p>But as of right now, Shirakumo Oboro is just glad to be somewhere safe.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Tadaaaa? Im having a serious Dadzawa and Shinson mood lately so you bet Im gonna drizzle it in here. Dadmight too, maybe a little. Why does this fandom have so many good parental figures?</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. The Walking Dead</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hap Birth Cloudboi. I decided to post this week's chapter a little earlier because I was finished and in celebration for the Cloudchild's birthday (holy moly guys go check out that sweet tumblr birthday art for Oboro it will make you sad). Ironically this chapter is the first one so far thats not in his perspective, oops. I started falling into that Shinson craze and suddenly Shinsou got an entire chapter to himself, my bad. But like, story building??? I guess??? </p><p>Also, this week's chapter was inspired by: twelve over, seven up by knlalla. Its actually referenced directly in the chapter but its kinda more like a cameo. This fic was lowkey the reason why Shinsou got an entire chapter to himself ngl. You don't need to read it to understand what's going on but please do! Here's the link! Give it a read its great and some love!</p><p>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23141200</p><p>Alrighty, without further ado, please enjoy!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>When Shinsou thinks of the walking dead, he thinks of decaying bodies, tired eyes, maybe some maggots too for extra fear factor. Hell, for most his life people have told him that he’s looked dead on the inside. He was the goddman zombie in their school fair, so he knows a thing or two about what a dead person should look like.</p><p> </p><p>The boy he’s helping to the nurse’s office looks nothing like a dead person, but has the name of one.</p><p> </p><p>Shirakumo Oboro is the name of his mentor’s old highschool buddy that died before they graduated. Shinsou is sure of it. Eraserhead had shown him the plaque they have in dedication for him on the UA Student and Alumni Memorial just outside school. He is very sure that it is Shirakumo Oboro’s name that Present Mic, Midnight, and Eraserhead visit together. He’s visited that plaque with Aizawa-sensei. He even knows the placing of the plaque, twelve over, seven up. And he knows the name on the plaque: Shirakumo Oboro.</p><p> </p><p>And yet, here he is, bringing Shirakumo Oboro to the nurse’s office.</p><p> </p><p>From the moment he laid his eyes on the blue haired boy, Shinsou knew he looked familiar. It only really clicked when he actually said his name, and by that time Shinsou was already supporting his weaker right leg. Maybe it’s a prank? But then why would anyone try to pretend to be a UA student that died about 15 years ago? Maybe he’s a villain? No, Shinsou was pretty sure this guy was telling the truth. He’s always been a good read of people’s honesty, and this guy wasn’t lying about his name or story. He was genuinely scared, and hurt if Shinsou might add. There’s a lot of blood on the guy’s arms and some smeared on his forehead.</p><p> </p><p>If anything, it’s a hero’s job to help those who are hurt, so helping some random not-dead guy is a good thing, right? Hopefully this doesn’t backfire on him.</p><p> </p><p>“Here we are!” All Might exclaims as he opens the door to the nurse’s office. “Recovery Girl should be here soon. We’ll just wait for her.”</p><p> </p><p>Shinsou helps not-dead Shirakumo Oboro onto one of the beds. He’s only ever seen one picture of Shirakumo, and while the boy in the picture and the boy sitting in front of him are identical, Shirakumo’s entire presence is so much bigger than Shinsou initially thought. Aizawa-sensei has always been a very aloof person, so Shinsou expected his highschool friends to be, well, at least a little aloof too, with the only major exception being Present Mic. This guy though, seemed to wear a smile even when he wasn’t smiling. Shinsou could tell just by looking at the blue haired student that he was a free-spirited type of guy, not exactly someone Aizawa-sensei would gravitate towards.</p><p> </p><p>“Shinsou,” All Might calls his attention back. “You can go ahead back to your dorm for now. I’m sure your classmates are worried.”</p><p> </p><p>“Thanks for your help!” not-dead Shirakumo Oboro adds with a smile. Even with the dried blood on his face, the grin still looks welcoming and friendly. It only drives home the point that Shirakumo Oboro is very much alive, contrary to popular belief.</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah,” is all Shinsou manages to say, because really? How do you respond to the walking dead? Trying to get himself out of his tongue tie, Shinsou turns and addresses All Might. “Can I speak with you outside for a moment?”</p><p> </p><p>“Of course,” All Might says as he gets up and heads with Shinsou outside the nurse’s office for a bit more privacy. “What is it that you wanted to tell me?”</p><p> </p><p>Shinsou opens his mouth to respond but someone else answers first.</p><p> </p><p>“Shirakumo Oboro died 15 years ago.” Recovery Girl says as she walks up from behind Shinsou. “I just checked his school files. It took a while to find since they’re so old. Who the hell did you just bring into campus, Toshinori?”</p><p> </p><p>All Might’s face seems to be stuck with confusion as he goes over exactly what is being asked of him. Shinsou takes the moment to respond, “But he looks exactly like him.” He argues.</p><p> </p><p>“How do you know what he looks like?” Recovery Girl directs at Shinsou.</p><p> </p><p>“Aizawa-sensei, Midnight-sensei, and Mic-sensei were his friends in highschool. I saw a picture.” He explains. “And he’s actually really hurt. I know it doesn’t make sense, but I don’t think he’s lying either.”</p><p> </p><p>Recovery Girl just gives a hum and taps the tip of her chin in a thoughtful manner. “In this day and age it could still very well be an imposter. What about that League of Villains girl, Toga? She can shape shift right?”</p><p> </p><p>“She would have needed a lot of his blood to shapeshift for this long.” All Might answers. “I read her file before Kamino. Its impossible for it to be her since she wouldn’t have been able to get the blood now. The body would have been cremated.”</p><p> </p><p>An exhausted sigh escapes Recovery Girl and All Might pinches the bridge of his nose in stress. “So, what do we do now?” Shinsou asks.</p><p> </p><p>“Whether he’s telling the truth or not, there’s still a young man sitting in the infirmary injured. As heroes, I think we have to help him, at least for now,” All Might responds, with a bit of a heroic flair if Shinsou might add. “If he’s lying, at least we’ll already have him surrounded. We can call the other teachers for backup. If he’s telling the truth, then there may be a kidnapped student somewhere. Where’s Nezu? What does he have to say about this?”</p><p> </p><p>“He’s coming.” Recovery Girl remarks. “I told him about what’s going on and I think he’s making some calls right now regarding the situation.”</p><p> </p><p>“Maybe I can call Aizawa-sensei?” Shinsou offers. “He may have some input on this considering that this was his friend.”</p><p> </p><p>“Or perhaps,” Recovery Girl interrupts, “this is a targeted attack on him. It could even be targeted at Midnight or Present Mic. If they were all friends…”</p><p> </p><p>All Might grunts in acknowledgement while Shinsou lets it sink in. Thinking about it now, it would be a decisively evil plot against his mentor and his mentor’s close friends. The fact that even Shinsou knows how much Shirakumo Oboro’s death plagues Eraserhead is a testament to how much it would mess with his mentor should a villain try to use that against him in anyway.</p><p> </p><p>“Regardless,” Recovery Girl picks up again, “we have to keep up the appearance that we don’t suspect him. We’ve already been out here for too long. Shinsou, if you have Aizawa’s number, just try checking in on him to see if he’s okay, let him know what’s going on and to be on high alert. All Might, can you try calling Midnight and Mic? Same message. Nezu probably has something planned by now so hopefully he’ll be here soon. I’m going to go see the boy for myself.” She gives the other two a nod and turns to head into the infirmary.</p><p> </p><p>“Shinsou after you’ve called, just wait outside and I’ll ask one of the other teachers to escort you back to the dorm.” All Might tells him. “After the USJ and the training camp incidents I don’t want to take any risks with you going back alone.”</p><p> </p><p>Shinsou nods and heads to the other end of the hallway to call Aizawa-sensei just as All Might walks to the opposite end to call Mic and Midnight. Though Shinsou would never admit it, there’s an anxious, hollow feeling making its way through his stomach. Things seem to be getting more serious by the second. He pulls out his phone and presses call on Eraserhead’s number.</p><p> </p><p>The phone rings for a good two minutes without an answer, which seems strange to Shinsou considering Aizawa always picked up when he sees his students calling (too many close calls in one year is probably the reason why he’s so paranoid now). The call goes to voicemail and Shinsou briefly considers leaving a message before realizing that perhaps hearing someone say ‘Hey remember your dead friend? He’s in the nurse’s office right now’ isn’t exactly a conversation one would leave on voicemail, especially considering how much Shirakumo Oboro’s death meant to his mentor. He tries several more times to get Aizawa to pick up, but each attempt goes unanswered.</p><p> </p><p>In a last effort, he sends the most delicate text he can send regarding the situation:</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Aizawa-sensei please call me back when you receive this. There’s something important I need to tell you. Something has come up on campus that may be connected with you. Please be on high alert as well, Recovery Girl and All Might suspect that someone may be trying to target you, Present Mic, and Midnight.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>He swallows down his anxiety and hits the send button. As ominous as the message is, it was the best way he could think of phrasing the situation without dropping the biggest truth bomb via text. He hopes Aizawa is okay, which reminds him.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>P.S. Eri is okay and she’s with Midoriya at the 1a dorms. </em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>Shinsou turns back to see All Might waiting for him to finish up his calls. “Any luck reaching Eraserhead?” the retired hero asks.</p><p> </p><p>“No,” Shinsou answers. “It’s a bit worrisome. He always answers when it’s a student. I sent him a text message about it and to call after, but I left out the part about Shirakumo. I’m not sure how he would take finding out there might be an imposter of his dead friend roaming around. So I thought it might be better not to tell him that through a text.”</p><p> </p><p>All Might nods. “That’s fine. It seems that Eraserhead is deeply emotionally involved in this then.”</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah. He doesn’t say anything, but I can tell from the way he acts that this kind of means a lot to him. I don’t want to throw him off his game if he really is in danger.” Shinsou replies. “Were you able to talk to Midnight-sensei and Mic-sensei?”</p><p> </p><p>“Not Present Mic but Midnight answered.” All Might lets out a tired huff and continues. “She didn’t take the information well. She’s furious and making her way here now.”</p><p> </p><p>Shinsou understands that. If someone were posing as a person he loved that died years ago, he would probably be angry as well. But at least she knows that there could be danger now. He wonders if Present Mic and Eraserhead are doing okay. The fact that 2 out of the 3 people that would be most effected by Shirakumo being alive didn’t answer raises quite a few warning signs. He’s more than just a little worried, especially for his mentor. While training under Eraserhead, Shinsou has found that the man really does mean a lot to him.</p><p> </p><p>Apparently All Might picks up on his concern and speaks to comfort the boy. “There’s no need to worry about those two. They are both incredibly competent heroes and I have no doubt they will be prepared for whatever comes their way.”</p><p> </p><p>Shinsou grins in response. The reassurance doesn’t exactly ease all of the tension, but he appreciates the effort.</p><p> </p><p>“Just wait out here for now, Shinsou. I called Ground Hound to escort you back to the dorms. He should be here in a few minutes. I’m going to go back in and see how things are going with Recovery Girl.” With that, All Might heads back inside the infirmary, leaving Shinsou alone just outside the hallway.</p><p> </p><p>While he is very aware the danger that could be lurking regarding the situation, Shinsou can’t help but be a little curious as to walking dead student that’s on the other side of the wall.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Tada? Sorry its a bit slow this week! I was originally planning on doing the half from another person's perspective and half from Shirakumo's but then this got kinda long so I was like eh fuck it. But all that aside this was actually kind of fun to write. </p><p>Also I just want to say thanks to everyone who's been commenting! It's really been keeping me going! </p><p>And I know a lot of people have been waiting, so I'll spoil a lil bit. Eraser and Mic take center stage in the next chapter :))))</p><p>Hap Birth Cloudchild. We miss you.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. One Stressful Situation Away From Death</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Finally, we get a Mic and Eraser chapter. I have no idea what I'm doing. I'm not a good writer and this fic is very self-indulgent but I am here for the angst and friendship and thats what you are going to get. The only reason I am in this fandom is for that Aizawa-Shirakumo-Yamada friendship. Deku who? Everyone else can leave.</p><p>Also sorry to post a day late. I got busy yesterday puzzle solving and forgot to post. Also I didn't really like this chapter that much and I wanted to fix it but I had already written it and I'm lazy.</p><p>AND I HAVE UPDATED THE RATINGS TO TEENS BECAUSE CURSE WORDS. But like, its going to be keeping the same amount of PG because I am a family person. A family person who curses like hell, but family nonetheless.</p><p>So here you go! I hope its okayish.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Please explain to me how the most secure prison in Japan loses a teenager,” Aizawa demands, his patience running even shorter than usual with everything going on. “I had to leave a training session early to get here.” Next to him, Hizashi says nothing, but being lifelong friends, Shouta knows the blonde is boiling with frustration just under the surface.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m sorry, its my fault,” the doctor assigned to Oboro if Aizawa recalls correctly, Doctor Tanaka, rambles. “There were so many different variables at play with his case and we didn’t want to accidentally do more damage than there already was. And there was the fact that many of our medications and treatments shouldn’t be used on minors. I know he was just a year away from being 18 when he died but—”</p><p> </p><p>“No Doctor, please its my fault,” Detective Tsukuachi interrupts her as he exits his car with Gran Torino in tow. Despite them arriving only a few minutes after Hizashi and himself, Aizawa couldn’t help but be annoyed at the delay. “I shouldn’t have sent a minor to Tartarus. I didn’t know at the time that Kurogiri had reverted back to Shirakumo.”</p><p> </p><p>“So what exactly are we dealing with right now?” Aizawa lets his voice be heard. They were wasting time.</p><p> </p><p>“Please follow me to the security room. The warden will meet us inside.” The doctor announces to the group as she leads them in. “Also, just so you know, there’s no signal inside Tartarus and we have a locker room inside for cellphones and other communication electronics not sanctioned by the prison. Sorry for the strict rules.” She shrugs apologetically.</p><p> </p><p>“Well the strict rules haven’t exactly helped the situation, has it?” Mic says under his breath. Shouta is pretty sure no one else heard it, and gives Hizashi a look that expresses his shared anger at the whole predicament. The group stops to deposit their things at the locker room and continues on.</p><p> </p><p>“We gathered all the data we have about Shirakumo Oboro for the past two days he was here and put it all into this drive.” Dr. Tanaka shows the hard drive in her hand as she guides them through the labyrinth of hallways. “In all my years in the medical field, I’ve never seen anything quite like his data. Its incredibly confusing.”</p><p> </p><p>“How so?” Gran Torino asks as they come into a room full of computers monitoring not only the inside of the prison, but also about a five kilometer radius around it. There are a few guards watching the screens. Dr. Tanaka leads them to an office room to the side, which has its own set of computer screens as well.</p><p> </p><p>“I’ll keep my explanation short so we can find him sooner, but essentially while we thought the rewind quirk reversed him all the way back to before he was a nomu, it only rewound him part way. There are still parts of him that hold aspects of Kurogiri.” Dr. Tanaka explains.</p><p> </p><p>“His quirk for example,” a loud voice booms from the entrance. Aizawa turns around to find a huge man, his height reaching the top of Mic’s banana hairdo, seemingly made of stone. The warden. “When we were monitoring him, we were looking for signs of him using his Cloud quirk. So we were more than surprised when he started opening warp gates.”</p><p> </p><p>“Warden Ito,” the detective greets. “I’m terribly sorry for everything.”</p><p> </p><p>“No use crying over spilled milk, Tsukuachi,” the warden replies as he joins the rest of the group. “What’s done is done. What we need now is to find out where he went. Its obvious that he’s confused, and I’m worried how he’ll react suddenly finding out he’s been gone for 15 year. I’m sorry for the interruption Tanaka, please continue.”</p><p> </p><p>Aizawa can appreciate Ito’s directness on the matter.</p><p> </p><p>“His quirk isn’t the only thing that shows fragments of Kurogiri,” the doctor continues. “We were scanning his brain most of the time. While he was asleep everything checked as normal, but once he started waking up, the readings started to get confusing. There are certain instances where it has similar form to the readings we got from Kurogiri back when he was imprisoned here, which in itself are incredibly baffling as well.”</p><p> </p><p>Aizawa remembers. When they had called him and Mic in to reach out to Shirakumo all those weeks ago, the brain scans they had been shown were hard to decipher, mostly because Kurogiri was sometimes made entirely of mist, and sometimes took a more humanlike form. But when and how that happened were completely arbitrary, thus it made it hard to deduce the scans of the mist-like brain.</p><p> </p><p>“So what I’m getting at here,” Hizashi speaks up. Outwardly he looks entirely professional, but Shouta can see his friend is more on edge than he’s letting on. The way he’s standing, the smallest tension in his eyebrows, and even his tone of voice are all signs. In fact, Shouta isn’t sure he’s ever seen Hizashi this pissed off, and the two of them have been friends for years. “Is that, on the inside, we don’t really know where Shirakumo ends and Kurogiri begins.”</p><p> </p><p>“Somewhat,” the doctor acknowledges. “However, there’s also the fact that he doesn’t seem to have much memories from the past 15 years he’s been a nomu. The last thing he clearly remembered was the incident at Tasomiya. So it might be easier to explain it as, on the inside, aspects of Kurogiri are locked away but sometimes mix with Shirakumo.”</p><p> </p><p>“But he remembers his life before the accident? All of it?” Shouta asks. He tries not to show how desperately he’s clinging onto that small fragment of hope.</p><p> </p><p>“I can’t say for sure,” she replies with a sympathetic gaze. It only slightly irritates Aizawa. “He knows his birthday and his name clearly, and he seems hell-bent on finding out what happened to you two, but aside from that I wasn’t able to get any clear information out of him.”</p><p> </p><p>Aizawa doesn’t exactly like the implications of that. He merely nods in response.</p><p> </p><p>“I think the biggest danger right now,” Tanaka proceeds, “is his own mind tearing itself apart.”</p><p> </p><p>“<em>What</em>?!” Mic’s voice begins to get slightly stronger, most occupants in the room shield their ears. “What’s that supposed to mean?!”</p><p> </p><p>Dr. Tanaka goes to one of the computer screens, plugs in her data drive, and pulls out some files. Most of them are just brain scans that Aizawa can’t interpret on his own. Dr. Tanaka points to the screen to explain. “Shirakumo kept the scanners on the entire time he was running around Tartarus, so we have the scans for every time he used his quirk. From what I can tell, large amounts of stress both from his quirk usage and panic caused his brain waves to read closer to Kurogiri’s. That’s another problem because, if you remember from your last visit, Kurogiri shuts down when put into a stressful situation where he might reveal League information.”</p><p> </p><p>“But would that be a problem still if he doesn’t remember the past 15 years?” Gran Torino inquires.</p><p> </p><p>The doctor shrugs. “Like I said, there are parts of Kurogiri locked inside Shirakumo. We don’t really know what triggers it to come out. While it could be him using his quirk, the activity spiked even more when he got emotional or put into stressful situations.”</p><p> </p><p>“Which is why we tried to avoid overwhelming him with confrontation.” Ito adds in sternly. “Whenever we sent people his way, he’d stress out and his brain readings would go obscure. I’d much rather have a former teenage hero student running around than the actual Kurogiri.”</p><p> </p><p>“What would happen,” Aizawa starts, a small apprehensive itch already starting to form in the back of his mind, “if his brain got too close to Kurogiri’s?”</p><p> </p><p>The doctor’s expression darkens and there’s a dreadful glint in her eyes that informs Aizawa the answer will be horrible. “At best,” she says, “he might get Kurogiri’s memories back, maybe he’ll become Kurogiri again, just with Shirakumo’s body.” Dr. Tanaka pauses, looking directly at Aizawa, as if trying to gage if he can handle the next part of her answer. “At worst, his brain could turn back to mist, but without a body able to properly communicate with a mist like brain, he could die.”</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>He could die.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Eraserhead is careful to keep a professional air around him. Pokerface. Don’t let it show how that one sentence threatens the small fragment of hope he had. But looking at the doctor’s body language, he knows there’s still more to come. “Is there anything else?” He asks. He can hear Hizashi taking a deep breath, as if preparing for a truly brutal answer.</p><p> </p><p>“In terms of how he dies, it could be that his brain reverts back to a mist like form, is unable to communicate with his body, and his body just shuts down. Or it could prompt a collapse of his entire head, and that will be it,” Dr. Tanaka response solemnly as she glances over the diagrams on screen. “I can’t really say for sure. There’s never been patient like him before. Dying, coming back to life, getting turned into not just any nomu, but a nomu with intelligence and a mist like body, and then getting all of that reverted back by a rewind quirk that no one really understands quite yet. There’s no precedent for this. Whatever happens moving forward could be anyone’s guess.”</p><p> </p><p>Shouta sighs. In his peripheral vision, he can see Hizashi furrow his eyebrows, a sign that his friend is incredibly stressed out. With the amount of factors coming into play with the situation, it isn’t hard to see why. Oboro is not only missing, he also has no idea how long he’s been gone, and there is also the threat of him <em>dying a gruesome death</em> (again) if he gets too stressed out.</p><p> </p><p>“Eraserhead, is there anything you can tell us about Eri’s quirk? Anything that might help?” Tsukuachi inquires, bringing the group out of the horrific train of thought. “From my understanding, it was her quirk that was able to revert him back to Shirakumo, right?”</p><p> </p><p>Eraserhead frowns. He could do without the reminder that it is partially his fault all of them are in this mess in the first place. If he had just watched over Eri more carefully…</p><p> </p><p>This was no time for a pity party. Aizawa brings his thoughts back to the matter at hand. “Eri’s quirk needs time to store energy, so every time she uses it like she did with Kurogiri, her powers drain. And it takes a long while to store that much energy. We had barely started her quirk training before the Kurogiri incident, so there isn’t much to go on. We’ll have to wait for her to store up enough energy again if we want to get any information about it. And that could take some time.” Aizawa huffs. There were so many moving parts, so many missing factors in this whole scenario.</p><p> </p><p>“It can’t be helped then,” Gran Torino says with authority. “Do we have any idea where he went? We need to get him back before the worse comes to pass.”</p><p> </p><p>“We can review the security footage and brain scans from right before he disappeared,” Warden Ito announces. “Maybe we can find a clue from those.”</p><p> </p><p>The group nods in agreement as the warden begins to pull up video footage of various hallways and rooms. In each thumbnail, there’s the wisp of blue cloud like hair present. Aizawa thought he had prepared himself enough to see it, but even knowing what was going on, there’s an agonizing sensation that gnaws at him every time his eyes glance over Oboro. Its feels like a dream, or maybe just old footage of his friend, like he’s going to wake up and realize Oboro is still dead, or they check the time stamp and its actually footage from years ago. And mixed into that, there is also guilt, like a wound that never really healed back to the way it used to be is suddenly being ripped open again. Its like finding out Kurogiri was Oboro all over again.</p><p> </p><p>But this time, there was hope. And perhaps that’s why Shouta hated it even more.</p><p> </p><p>Every since that fateful day in the rain, Shouta’s life has been a constant denial of hope. It had been worse before, when the pain was still fresh, but after years it subsided. It got a lot better once he became a schoolteacher; teaching those kids how to be heroes, mentoring Shinsou, watching over Eri, but life lessons like those leave their marks. Sometimes it feels like a waiting game. Waiting for bad news, or an attack, or for the other shoe to drop. Sometimes it happens, sometimes it doesn’t, but Shouta’s motto is ‘prepare for the worst’. Better to expect the worst rather than to hope and have that hope crushed.</p><p> </p><p>Looking at Oboro now, on the screen, alive, <em>fighting</em>, it fills him once again with a sense of hope. A hope that maybe he can have his friend back. He doesn’t even know how that would work out now, but nevertheless, against his better judgment, he hopes.</p><p> </p><p>And hope is more terrifying than he could have ever imagined.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Ta...da?? Not my best work, but I'm trying to build up for the next few chapters where I get to write about ideas I've had in my head for the past forevers. Next time its gonna be a two chapter post because I cannot write one chapter without the other or else I am going to get confused. So look out for that.</p><p>Ok I wanted to share, so we know Eri's rewind can completely fix bodies (lmao Deku breaking all of his fucking bones and just getting it healed by her, and there was also that guy Overhaul tore apart that she put back together), but my thing is it didn't undo minds. Deku still remembered what happened during the fight. So like, minds, brain, all the same deal. Whatever, I'm god now and I get to decide what science can or can't do.</p><p>Also I know there are a lot of missing parts like how exactly did he become Shirakumo again? How did he get out of Tartarus the first time? How did he get close to Eri? I swear I will answer these questions.</p><p>And also thanks to everyone who's been commenting and subscribing! This fic just reached like 100 subscribes and thats just like wow. And if I haven't gotten to your comment yet, don't worry I'm answering everyone! Sometimes it just takes me a while because I look back on all the unread comments and that's how I get inspiration to write. </p><p>Thanks for reading!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Just a Phonecall Away</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hey remember when I said this was going to be like 5 chapters maximum? Haha remember that? Haha its not. Haha its actually like going to be like maybe 20. But I swear to god if I go over that I will run out of storage space. I want to aim for like 15, but Im saying 20 because I probably will go over. So yeah, like around 15-20 chapters. Im sorry to all those people who came here like for a short fic and ended up getting a novel. And also thanks for sticking around. </p>
<p>Anyway, I'm like 2 chapters ahead of my posting schedule and I need y'all to be on the same page because when I get your comments sometimes I forget you're still 2 chapters behind. SO THAT MEANS IM GONNA BE DROPPING AN EXTRA CHAPTER THIS WEEK WOOT WOOT.</p>
<p>Also, ok I just want to clarify, I don't think Recovery Girl would know Shirakumo. Although its totally possible for her to have worked in the school around the time they were students, I feel like having a power like her's would be better suited to helping pro's in a lot of danger. Like I don't think she would have spent all this time just helping UA kids. Maybe like, she retired as from the big field and decided to do the school thing just to have something to do. I know a lot of people do that sometimes. But yeah, I'd think she work as long as she can in the big field because her quirk would be such a treasure and life saving to a lot of people and then retire and go into the school which is definitely a tone down.</p>
<p>I've been really excited to post the next few chapters. They were really fun to write (and accidentally got kind of long, my bad). Hope you all enjoy the ride!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The rest of the meeting went relatively smoothly, the group merely listing down things that could be helpful when dealing with Shirakumo. Things like maybe don’t tell him what happened to his body over the past 15 years, or that he’s been considered dead for 15 years or even that 15 years have passed. It would be too much stress for him. The most significant thing that came out of the meeting was a list of possible ‘safe places’ Shirakumo could have warped to. His family home, his old apartment when he was studying at UA, his dad’s vacation house, his favorite practice spot, the one cat café they went to when they were teenagers. The list goes on. Hizashi and Shouta left that room feeling a little more than irritated about the whole situation.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Sho, you good?” Hizashi asks as the two retrieve their things from the Tartarus locker room.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Fine,” is Aizawa’s best response. Blunt, direct, doesn’t have to elaborate, hides any fear he might be feeling. The best response.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“If you’re fine, then you can change my hero name to Banana Hair,” Mic responds. It’s a joke, but the tone is low, rough, and frustrated. Its not like the usual Hizashi humor Shouta is used to. Its not right.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Sure Banana Hair,” he says frankly. There’s doubt in Hizashi’s eyes, hidden well behind the shades, but Shouta knows its there. He grabs his and Mic’s things from the locker and hands the blonde his belongings. “I’d rather not talk about it right now. Not in public,” Shouta admits in defeat. Even though they are technically alone right now (the warden, Dr. Tanaka, Gran Torino, and Tsukuachi staying back to discuss other matters), he doesn’t want to open that conversation just yet. He’d really rather not talk about it at all, but he’s been friends with Hizashi long enough to know that trying to make him drop the topic permanently will only make him pester more.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Fine,” Hizashi states with a finality and forcefulness added to his voice without even raising his volume. There’s always something terrifying when Hizashi did that. Anytime Present Mic tones down, it’s a signal that things are serious. Shouta really doesn’t like that.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The two exit the prison and begin to make their way back to Mic’s car. There’s a comfortable silence between the two of them, an understanding that they are both still trying to process what just happened. Maybe once they get in the car, maybe then they can start talking about it, but for now, Shouta appreciates the quiet.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>That is, until his phone begins to vibrate with several notifications. Aizawa pulls out his phone with curiosity. Beside him, Hizashi’s phone starts to go off as well. They weren’t in Tartarus for that long, and Aizawa rarely gets this many notifications all at once. What the hell was going on?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“All Might called me,” Mic notes in a confused manner as he scrolls through phone. “And so did Nezu. And Kayama. Several times by all of them.” Aizawa checks his own phone and feels his adrenaline spikes at the sight of it. He’s got missed calls from Kayama and Nezu too, but neither of those are the ones that have his heart pounding at worrisome speeds.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Shinsou called. He called several times, and there’s a text message from him too.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>Aizawa-sensei please call me back when you receive this. There’s something important I need to tell you. Something has come up on campus that may be connected with you. Please be on high alert as well, Recovery Girl and All Might suspect that someone may be trying to target you, Present Mic, and Midnight.</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>P.S. Eri is okay and she’s with Midoriya at the 1a dorms. </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Shit.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Who called you?” Hizashi asks. Shouta lets him look at the message quickly.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Something’s wrong,” Eraserhead states. <em>Shinsou is in trouble</em>, echoes in the back of his mind. The amount of incidents they’ve had in a single year is astounding and keeps Eraserhead on high alert. He always answers if it’s a student calling. Always. Because he never knew whether they could be calling him to ask for life saving help.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Is he on campus? We can probably use our hero licenses to go over the speed limit.” Mic asks, quickly getting into the details of the situation like the pro he is. “I’m calling Nezu, he might have some information about what’s going on.” The two of them pick up their speed heading to the car.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I’m calling Shinsou now,” Eraserhead declares as he hits the call button and presses the phone to his ear. Its rings for a few seconds, in which time Shouta can feel the worry consume him from the inside. Relief washes over him when Shinsou answers after the third ring.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Sensei! Are you okay?” Shinsou asks. There’s a hint of both relief and caution in his voice that Eraserhead can’t exactly infer much from.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Shinsou, where are you? What’s going on?” Eraserhead ignores his protégé’s greetings and gets to business as quickly as possible.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He glances back again to Mic and can see the voice hero putting on his signature smile and upbeat charisma as he begins to speak into his own phone. A façade, Shouta realizes, to make it seem like nothing is wrong. He barely has time to brace himself for Yamada’s voice. “PRINCIPAL NEZU! WHATS UP?!” Present Mic calls into his own phone.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Ow,” Shinsou says through Eraserhead’s phone. Apparently Mic’s voice was loud enough to even hurt Shinsou’s ears. “Was that Presnt Mic? Are you with him?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Shinsou, answer my question first. Where are yo—” Aizawa doesn’t finish his sentence, because in the background of Shinsou’s call, he hears a voice he thought he’d never hear again.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Hey, did you say something about Present Mic? Is he on the phone?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p><em>Oboro</em>?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Oh shit,” Shouta hears Shinsou say in surprise, but its quieter and muffled, as if he pulled the phone away from his mouth. This is a concerning development.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Language!” Eraserhead snaps on instinct. He facepalms himself and gets back to the real problem. “Hitoshi? Hitoshi! Where are you? Who was that? Are you safe?!” Eraserhead all but shouts through the phone. How could Oboro and Hitoshi be in the same place? Was Hitoshi still on campus? Its late and dorm curfew is instated, he should still be on campus, he should be in his dorm, but then how did Oboro get there? His questions fall on deaf ears, its obvious Hitoshi is no longer listening as he continues his conversation with whoever he’s with on the other end of the call.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Uh,” Hitoshi says numbly. “No its just my mentor.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“But I heard you say something about Present Mic.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Young man, I think you still need to rest a bit before exerting so much energy.” A deep voice. Was that All Might?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Hitoshi! Are you with All Might?!” Eraserhead screams into the phone trying to get the boy’s attention back, but he is once again ignored.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“My friend might be kidnapped. I can’t just sit and do nothing!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>Kidnapped? Who—</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Before Shouta can even begin to try and ask what that’s supposed to mean, there’s a fourth voice coming through in the background of the call.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“YOU!” A furious shout rings through the line, a declaration of war if Aizawa’s ever heard one. He hears both Hitoshi and who he assumes to be Oboro release small yelps of shock.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>And the furious voice, it sounded just like...</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Midnight! Wait, please!” All Might calls out. Suddenly, there’s a sound of a scuffle on the other end, but its too muffled and confusing to tell who’s fighting who or what’s going on. It only works to heighten Aizawa’s nerves.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Hitoshi! Hitoshi?!” Eraserhead shouts again. “What was that?! Are you okay?!” Again, he is ignored. Over the line, he can hear the fight.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“How. Dare. You. You goddamn imposter! Get away from my student!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Midnight! Wait!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Stop!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“What the hell?!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Midnight-sensei!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Shinsou move away from him right now! He’s supposed to be dead.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Midnight?! Sensei?! W-what? I don’t understand. Kayama is supposed to be in her 3<sup>rd</sup> year I—”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Everyone calm down—”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“All Might, he’s an imposter! He doesn’t even have Shirakumo’s quirk! He’s a villain! Get Shinsou away from him!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Who are you calling imposter?! The Midnight I know is way younger than you!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Shinsou, All Might! Move!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>There’s more sounds of a fight in the background, people falling to the floor, the telltale crack of Kayama’s whip, all mixing together in the call. At some point, Shouta can hear the phone hit the ground. Then there’s a small cry of pain and someone struggling.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Hitoshi?!” Aizawa calls out again. “Hitoshi! Are you okay?!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He can’t hear Hitoshi anymore. The only sounds coming through is a struggle, like someone is trying to break free of a grip, and what he assumes is Kayama and Oboro breathing hard.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Who are you and how the hell did you get into that form?” Kayama hisses with distain. “If you don’t tell me now, then you can take a quick nap and I’ll be sure to get it out of you later, while you’re in a prison cell, villain.” She’s using her scary voice. Aizawa can hear clothes rustling. It must be Midnight revealing her skin, ready to use her quirk.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>There’s silence for a few beats. Aizawa isn’t sure what’s happening and is too in shock over what he just heard to even muster word. The breathing has slowed down, almost calm, and Aizawa has to concentrate, but he thinks he can hear something.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Kayama…it really is you, isn’t it?” Oboro says in a soft, hushed manner. Almost like he’s falling asleep (Midnight’s quirk if Aizawa had to guess), but there’s some hurt in the question too, like he doesn’t want to believe it. He sounds confused and afraid and a whole list of other adjectives Shouta would never associate with Oboro.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Midnight watch out! He’s opening a portal again!” All Might shouts in the far background of the call. Suddenly there’s the sound of rushing air, as if the phone is free falling, and then two loud thumps, the phone landing on the ground with something else.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Its calm again. There’s no sound for a minute or two, and Shouta considers hanging up, thinking that the phone must be busted. But then if he listens closely, he can hear the sound of heavy breathing. There’s still someone on the other end.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Hello?” he starts carefully. “Is anyone there?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>There’s a sharp gasp and rustling sounds, as if someone is moving. The breathing on the other end gets louder as the person nears the device. Then more ruffling sounds, perhaps someone picking up the phone. There’s a slight pause, another gasp, and then after a minute of silence, a voice speaks every so carefully;</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“<em>Shouta</em>?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He thought he’d never hear Oboro say his name again.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Eraserhead doesn’t freeze up, he hasn’t for a long time, but this, this was something else. His voice is gone. His mind stalls at the shock and his hands shake. One of his eyelids twitch and there’s a throbbing on the right side of his forehead. There are so many things screaming at him that this isn’t real and Oboro is still gone, but the evidence is glaring at him so much he can’t turn away. Its one thing to see footage of your undead friend, its another thing to hear him, in real time, alive, on the other end of a phonecall.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He pushes through his feelings and finds the courage to speak. “Oboro? Its me. Its Sho—”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The line goes dead.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Shouta is left there, standing like an idiot, trying to check his phone if maybe his battery ran out. It didn’t. He tries calling back, but it just rings and goes straight to voicemail, which means the other phone still has battery too. Oboro hung up on him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Shouta? What the heck was happening on your phonecall, man?” Hizashi asks him, bringing him back to reality. He hadn’t even realized they already arrived at the car.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Shouta looks up at his friend with a confused and melancholy expression. He’s not quite sure if he’s sad or hopeful or terrified, maybe a bit of everything. “I think I just talked to Oboro.” He answers. Hizashi’s expression is a mirror of his own, both heroes unsure about how to react to the information.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>But there are other things Shouta needs to worry about too.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I need to find Hitoshi.” Eraserhead announces, pushing away the mixed feelings and giving himself a definite goal. As much as he wants to find Oboro, he also made a promise to keep his students safe. A promise he felt he’s been spectacularly failing at this entire year. “I think he was with Shirakumo, and Midnight and All Might were there too. There was a fight going on between Kayama and Shirakumo, and someone said something about a kidnapping. Hitoshi disappeared midway in the call and I don’t know what happened to him. I don’t know what happened to any of them.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I think I might,” Hizashi says as he shakes his own phone in the air. “Nezu tells me they’ve got on hell of a situation going on. Have you checked the faculty groupchat? Intruder alert.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He hadn’t even looked through all the messages yet. He’d been so focused on making sure Hitoshi was safe that he went into override mode and didn’t bother to check the rest of the notifications after Hitoshi’s. Considering the fight he just heard over the call, he can’t help but imagine something bad has happened to his student.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He opens the groupchat that’s already filled with texts he can’t understand without context. The word “intruder” repeats over and over and over again in various messages. He goes to the beginning and it only takes him a glance at six words to suddenly apprehend the situation.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>Possible quirks: Cloud and Warp Gate.</em>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Hope you liked the chapter! It was really fun to write this one and I feel definitely better than the last few. Sorry its like way longer than the other chapters. Originally this was supposed to go together with chapter 5 but then I realized that would be extra extra long so I cut it in half.</p>
<p>And don't worry, Shirakumo's POV will return in the next chapter. </p>
<p>Thanks for sticking around!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. The Other End of the Line</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Dear god everyone Im sorry its so long. I could not figure out how to shorten or split this chapter. So here you go. A long chapter. So long, but the longer part is Oboro's perspective. I just needed to add a lil Nezu in there for explaining and stuff. Idk what Im doing guys. All I know is that I am here to get y'all every bit of angst and friendship and hurt/comfort and love I can. The only reason Im writing this entire feature length fic is for the five scenes I have in my head. Everything else Im making up on the spot. </p><p>Also I meant to post this earlier but I didn't have wifi for like two days. My bad.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Nezu doesn’t usually spend his Friday nights in his office sipping tea, solving mysteries, and trying again and again to get Tsukuachi, Aizawa, or Yamada on the phone. However, tonight is a very different Friday night.</p><p> </p><p>Not too long ago, he got a call from Recovery Girl about a former student, Shirakumo Oboro, suddenly appearing in front of campus. All Might was bringing him in because of some injuries he had. The problem? Shirakumo Oboro died 15 years ago, according to Recovery Girl. What’s more, it was not too long ago that Detective Tsukuachi had asked for the school files on the boy. He couldn’t disclose all the details of the case, as Nezu did not play a major part in this specific investigation, but Nezu is no idiot. It doesn’t even take his higher intellect quirk to know this has something to do with AFO or one of his subordinates. It’s the only cases Tsukuachi is working on at the moment.</p><p> </p><p>Nezu also knows that Eraserhead and Present Mic have been working with Tsukuachi. Its not much, but he’s noticed that both heroes have had to take leave at least three or four times now to work with the detective. Another important thing to note is that both of them just happened to have been in the same class as Shirakumo Oboro. Coincidence? Nezu thinks not.</p><p> </p><p>Now, if this were about All For One, Tsukuachi would have let him know exactly what was going on due to him being the principal of a school targeted by AFO’s group, and his relations with All Might. However, Tsukuachi did not mention anything about that man. What he did mention is that him and Gran Torino caught Kurogiri, information which Nezu is privy to because, as principal of the school targeted by the League of Villains, he has a right to know. Kurogiri’s arrest, and then escape (hard to believe but not impossible), and then re-arrest (Nezu still has to get the details about that one) just happened to coincide more or less with when Eraserhead and Present Mic needed to take leaves and when Tsukuachi asked for Shirakumo’s files.</p><p> </p><p>This all leads to a vague but solid conclusion that somehow, Shirakumo Oboro is related to Kurogiri. Why would Tsukauchi need the files? Why would he need Aizawa and Yamada’s help? Why do all these events coincide with Kurogiri’s movements? Obviously its because he needs to remind Kurogiri something from the past, something about Shirakumo, back when Aizawa and Yamada were still students. It’s the only logical conclusion.</p><p> </p><p>So the next question is why Kurogiri? How does this piece fall into Aizawa and Yamada’s school years? That leads to the question of what happened during Yamada, Shirakumo, and Aizawa’s school years? Its an easy answer: Shirakumo died. Nezu would guess that perhaps somehow Kurogiri is a relative or old friend of Shirakumo, hurt by his death, and has now come back to exact revenge on the hero community for letting someone like Shirakumo die (Nezu read the files, he seemed like a really great kid with the potential to be a great hero).</p><p> </p><p>But checking Shirakumo’s files, the few he could get his hands on, the boy’s closest friend where Aizawa and Yamada, so its obviously neither of them. He’s got two siblings but both are studying graduate courses abroad, and his parents are both still alive and across the country. Unless there is another person in which Shirakumo’s death could have effected so deeply, Nezu doubts this is somehow about revenge.</p><p> </p><p>Perhaps if he starts with the standpoint of Kurogiri. There isn’t much they know about the mysterious mist man. He serves the League of Villains, can create warp gates, and looks a little bit like that nomu Endeavor fought not too long ago.</p><p> </p><p>Wait a minute.</p><p> </p><p>A nomu’s base is the corpse of another person, and there’s only one dead person in this mystery of his. And this dead person just reappeared on his campus.</p><p> </p><p>Nezu spits out his tea. This is not good.</p><p> </p><p>He flings himself into action and sends a coded text to Recovery Girl: <em>He’s a 2319. </em>She’ll know what it means. He then sends a mass text to the faculty groupchat: <em>Procedure 2319. Check the students and have the infirmary surrounded. Patrolling and off-campus faculty please return. Await further instructions but be wary of a boy with blue cloudlike hair.</em></p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>Possible quirks: Cloud and Warp Gate.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p>Shirakumo sits idly on the infirmary bed with his cuts cleaned and tended to and his right leg elevated to support his sprained ankle. Apparently UA just hired a bunch of new faculty that he hasn’t met yet, because aside from the blonde teacher (he said to just call him Toshinori-sensei), there is also a new doctor running the clinic; Recovery Girl. Even though he knows this is UA and he’s safe here, he can’t shake the eerie feeling in his chest that something is wrong.</p><p> </p><p>Perhaps he should be worried by the fact that he hasn’t seen a single familiar face since he got here, and the only faculty members helping him are two people he doesn’t know. But then again, its UA, and the two first year students seem to trust them, so it should be safe, right?</p><p> </p><p>Honestly, there’s a part of him that’s too tired to care. The adrenaline rush he was on has finally worn off. Waking up strapped to a bed, finding out your quirk is all messed up, and trying to escape kidnappers while also finding out one of your best friends is dead and the other is in danger is not ideal. There’s also the fact that all he’s had to eat so far is the chips he stole from the break room and the crackers Recovery Girl has stored in the infirmary.</p><p> </p><p>But he can’t rest right now. Hizashi is in trouble somewhere and he needs to find him.</p><p> </p><p>Once Toshinori-sensei returned from his talk with the Shinsou guy, Shirakumo told him and Recovery Girl everything that happened since he woke up and made it specifically important how they must find Hizashi as soon as possible (Oboro can’t lose another friend). The two teachers took his story in stride and tried to comfort him when he got to the part about Shouta (he cried again, and he’s not going to be ashamed of it because his friend is dead and he’s upset). They took down notes and sent it to the rest of the faculty, and then they told him to rest because Recovery Girl can’t heal him if his body is too exhausted. While that does sound like a very nice idea, to just take a minute and sleep, his anxiety over the whole situation is keeping him up.</p><p> </p><p>A big part of that worry is about Hizashi, but there’s also some internal gut instinct telling him that he’s still not seeing everything. The picture doesn’t fit together quite right but he doesn’t know what exactly is wrong. Its been a little over an hour since he first landed on the street in front of UA. The sun is just about gone and from the window of the infirmary Shirakumo can see the night sky. He thinks that its been more than enough time to call the police and get their help to find Hizashi, but so far he hasn’t seen any police cars coming. He’s more than a little concerned about how these new faculty members are dealing with the situation.</p><p> </p><p>He turns to look at Toshinori-sensei and Recovery Girl, who are both preoccupied with their phones at the moment. “Um,” he starts nervously, fiddling with the edge of the beddings. “Are the police on their way yet?”</p><p> </p><p>Despite Toshinori-sensei’s skeleton-like appearance, he gives Shirakumo a kind smile that immediately puts the younger at ease. “Ah, no need to worry,” he replies. “I have a special contact in the police department that deals a lot with UA. We’ve contacted him and sent the information you gave. He’s probably already on the case and just getting a headstart. Plus, its better to let you rest first before having to repeat your story again. You should get some sleep after what you just experienced.”</p><p> </p><p>Shirakumo nods. That’s…understandable he supposes. But it does nothing to fix the apprehensive feeling that’s taken hold of his heart. “I can’t just do nothing. I’m training to be a hero and I can’t even help my best friends,” he says in defeat. “Hizashi could be hurt somewhere while all I’m doing is resting. I don’t even know how long he’s been kidnapped for.” That makes Shirakumo wonder. “Actually, what day is it?” He never did find that out and after everything that happened, figuring out the date was merely an after thought.</p><p> </p><p>“Its Friday,” Recovery Girl answers with a concerned look.</p><p> </p><p>“Friday?!” Shirakumo exclaims. “The attack was on Tuesday. He’s been gone for 4 days?!” While Shirakumo knows that means he’s been gone for the same amount of time too, the difference between him and Hizashi is that Hizashi is still unaccounted for. He doesn’t know what he’s supposed to do if he loses both his best friends.</p><p> </p><p>“Shirakumo Oboro!” Recovery Girl bellows at him strictly. “Sit down right this instant. You can’t help anyone if you can’t help yourself first. Would your friends want you to get hurt?”</p><p> </p><p>The edge in her voice surprised Shirakumo. He hadn’t even realized he was trying to get up. He slowly eases himself back into a resting position. “No,” he answers shamefully. “But can I please go to the police station to give my statement? At the very least, its something I can do to help him.”</p><p> </p><p>Recovery Girl’s face softens. “I understand you want to help him, but the best thing you can do for him right now is rest,” she tells him. Shirakumo slouches and avoids eye contact, but nods. He sniffles just a tad and rubs his nose, but there are no tears this time. The teen merely pouts and looks dolefully out the window.</p><p> </p><p>The elder hero sighs. “How about I go talk to someone about getting you to the police station tomorrow?” Recovery Girl offers, “But in return, you go to sleep.”</p><p> </p><p>That’s about the best deal Shirakumo thinks he is going to get out of her. “I think I can do that ma’am.” He smiles gratefully. “Thank you.”</p><p> </p><p>Recovery Girl returns the smile with her own and then turns to Toshinori-sensei, “Do not let him leave until he gets rest. I’ll be back shortly after I talk with the principal.” she orders him threateningly, then complains. “Heroes like you two always want to throw yourselves into danger even when you can barely move.”</p><p> </p><p>Toshinori-sensei gives a cheeky laugh and Shirakumo smiles apologetically as the two of them watch the elder woman exit the room. As she turns to close the door however, she stops and lets out a small yelp. “Eep!”</p><p> </p><p>“Recovery Girl?” Toshinori-sensei stands to get to the door.</p><p> </p><p>“Its fine.” Recovery Girl brushes him off candidly. “Its just Shinsou.”</p><p> </p><p>“Shinsou? What are you still doing here?” Toshinori-sensei asks. The door opens a little more and, sure enough, the purple haired first year peeks inside. Shirakumo wonders how long that guy was standing out there.</p><p> </p><p>“Sorry, I was waiting for a teacher to escort me back, but um, no one came.” He answers plainly. “You all seemed to be talking about something important and I didn’t want to barge in so I thought I’d just wait.”</p><p> </p><p>“Good grief, Shinsou! You should have just knocked instead of waiting out there by yourself. We may have a serious situation on our hands,” Recovery Girl lightly bonks him on his forehead with her cane, an exasperated look quickly finds its place on her face. “Next time speak up.”</p><p> </p><p>“Sorry,” he says sheepishly. Shirakumo snorts at that. With the tired eyes contrasting with the soft expression, the guy reminds him a lot of Shouta, Shirakumo thinks sadly.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m sorry Shinsou, the other teachers must be dealing with the case we’ve got on our hands right now,” Toshinori-sensei explains.</p><p> </p><p>“Why don’t you just stay here in the nurse’s office with us?” Shirakumo speaks up. All three occupants turn to him in surprise. He grins kindly and shrugs. “I don’t mind and you did really help me out back there. Plus its kinda late so it’s a bit dangerous to walk back home by yourself.” he tells Shinsou. “You could stay here until someone’s free to give you a ride.”</p><p> </p><p>“Actually I just live in the dor—”</p><p> </p><p>“Good idea Shirakumo.” Recovery Girl quickly interrupts Shinsou. “Shinsou its dark out already and I need to go speak to the principal quickly so just stay here until I find someone to escort you.” The older woman gives Shinsou a look that Shirakumo can’t exactly decipher. Strange.</p><p> </p><p>Shinsou looks just as confused as he is but replies, “Uh, okay…”</p><p> </p><p>“Toshinori, watch them. Make sure Shirakumo gets rest.” Recovery Girl reiterates. Again, if Shirakumo didn’t know any better, he’d say there was a hidden message in that instruction as well.</p><p> </p><p>As Recovery Girl leaves the infirmary, Shinsou walks in and takes a seat on one of the beds nearer to the exit. Toshinori-sensei returns his focus to Shirakumo, “You don’t want to get her angry.” He states. Shirakumo knows what he by that means; its time to rest.</p><p> </p><p>Shirakumo readjusts himself to get comfy and catches Shinsou glancing up at him every once in a while when he thinks Shirakumo isn’t paying attention. When their eyes accidentally do meet, Shinsou mumbles out an apology, “Sorry, I uh—.”</p><p> </p><p>Shirakumo lets out a somber laugh. This guy is very much like Shouta, never knows how to embrace his feelings when he is worried about a fellow hero. “Don’t worry,” he replies as he raises the arm that had the IV ripped out to show to Shinsou. Its bandaged now. “The injuries weren’t that bad. Just a few scraps.” He grins at the end to help alleviate the younger student’s worry. First years always struck him as funny because they were still learning how to deal with injury that happens when you’re learning to be heroes, and they always went about it so strangely. It was either incredibly dramatic or horribly awkward.</p><p> </p><p>Shinsou’s face scrunches up in what Shirakumo assumes is embarrassment and he breaks eye contact. “Oh yeah, that’s good.” He pauses then says, “You should probably get some sleep before Recovery Girl gets mad.”</p><p> </p><p>Shirakumo tries for a while, he really does, but that strange feeling he’s had since getting to UA still hasn’t gone away. Something is different. Its kind of like, how if he looks closely, the colors of the wall in the infirmary are a slightly different color from the last time he was here, which by all means is no big deal. But its been like that with everything in UA so far. Something is just the slight bit off and he’s not sure what. He thinks about everything that’s happened since he landed on the street in front of UA. If he’s remembering correctly, there was something different about the sign too. And the arc. And also the trees. And then suddenly something clicks.</p><p> </p><p>“Hey Shinsou,” he calls to the other student across the room who stiffens at the sound. “Where did you say you lived again?”</p><p> </p><p>“Shirakumo,” Toshinori-sensei pleads gently. “You need to rest.”</p><p> </p><p>“Last question, I promise,” Shirakumo raises one hand in the air, both in a pacifying way and to uphold his promise. “I was just thinking. The little girl and the green haired first year from earlier, did you tell them to go back to the dorms? I didn’t know UA had any.” Shirakumo wouldn’t go as far to say he was suspicious about them, maybe a little curious, but not so much that he felt he was in danger.</p><p> </p><p>Shinsou looks like a dear caught in the headlights as he sucks in a breath through his teeth. He’s avoiding eye contact too. Its as if he doesn’t want to tell Shirakumo the answer, which is weird because the question isn’t even that tough or personal. Did UA have dorms? Because last he checked, they didn’t.</p><p> </p><p>Shinsou doesn’t have chance to answer when suddenly his phone starts to ring, alarming everyone in the room. The awkward tension quickly dissipates as Shinsou snatches his phone from his pocket and checks the number calling. Shirakumo can’t see the caller ID, but a soft smile appears on Shinsou’s face. “Sorry I have to take this,” the younger student says and rapidly exits the room.</p><p> </p><p>Strange.</p><p> </p><p>“Shirakumo, you can ask questions later. Its imperative that you rest right now.” Toshinori-sensei urges and Shirakumo almost feels bad for making the teacher worry about him so much. That is to say, he would have felt bad, had it not been for Shinsou yelling into his phone.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>“Ow. Was that Present Mic? Are you with him?”</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Oboro bolts for the door, completely disregarding his injuries. The way Shinsou said it, as if he hadn’t been prepared for the volume in which Hizashi usually speaks when he answers the phone, and then having to shout louder without realizing that he was shouting because ‘Zashi accidentally banged up his ear drums. Oboro knows that feeling all to well from being friends with the loudest person in perhaps the world.</p><p> </p><p>Before Toshinori-sensei can even tell him to sit back down, Oboro is rushing into the hallway right behind Shinsou. “Hey, did you say something about Present Mic? Is he on the phone?” He asks frantically.</p><p> </p><p>Shinsou turns around and to Shirakumo’s surprise, there is a look of shock and panic on his face, as if he just made the biggest mistake in his life. “Oh shit.” He yelps as he pulls the phone down.</p><p> </p><p>There’s someone shouting on the other end of the line but it doesn’t sound like Hizashi. “Uh,” Shinsou mumbles. “No it’s just my mentor.”</p><p> </p><p>Shirakumo furrows his eyebrows in confusion. “But I heard you say something about Present Mic,” he replies.</p><p> </p><p>Behind him, exiting out into the hallway with them is Toshinori-sensei. He puts a hand on Shirakumo’s shoulder. “Young man, I think you still need to rest a bit before exerting so much energy.” He tells him.</p><p> </p><p>“My friend might be kidnapped. I can’t just sit and do nothing!” Shirakumo argues back.</p><p> </p><p>Before any of the three of them can say another word, there’s a furious shout coming from down the hallway. “YOU!” it screams in rage. All three turn around. Shirakumo moves out from behind Toshinori-sensei to get a clear look, only to see a hero with long dark purple hair, in a costume that shows off her chest and thighs, with handcuffs on her wrists like bracelets, and a long whip equipped in her left hand, ready to strike. Shirakumo might have been blushing had it not been for the look of pure bloodlust in her eyes. Instead, he lets out a small, fearful yelp.</p><p> </p><p>Toshinori-sensei holds up his hands in a pacifying gesture and moves a little closer to the angered hero. “Midnight! Wait, please!” he begs.</p><p> </p><p><em>Midnight</em>?</p><p> </p><p>The hero is rushing towards Shirakumo at a neck-breaking speed, seemingly ignoring Toshinori-sensei’s plead. Actually, it seems as though her attention (and fury, if Shirakumo might add) is only directed at him. She comes in charging and shouts, “<em>How. Dare. You</em>. You goddamn imposter! Get away from my student!”</p><p> </p><p>“Midnight! Wait!” Toshinori-sensei shouts, but she’s not listening. Shirakumo has to act quick or else he’ll be plowed over by her, and with his ankle already sprained, he doubts getting tackled will help him get better anytime soon.</p><p> </p><p>Fortunately for him, he’d gotten a lot of practice using his new portal quirk while he was running from those kidnappers. He swiftly puts a portal up in front of him as protection. “Stop!” he cries at her. But she doesn’t. She runs straight through the portal and comes out at the opposite end of the hallway behind Shirakumo, just as he planned.</p><p> </p><p>“What the hell?!” she exclaims in confusion. Shirakumo doesn’t see it, but next to him Toshinori-sensei eyes him with caution, as if he’s just realized the bigger danger in this room is not the bloodthirsty hero that’s rampaging at them.</p><p> </p><p>“Midnight-sensei!” Shinsou shouts, whether its in surprise or as a plea to stop is unclear.</p><p> </p><p>“Shinsou move away from him right now! He’s supposed to be dead.” She instructs the first year, but Shinsou barely moves. He puts distance between himself and the fight that’s going on, but not more than two steps of space.</p><p> </p><p>What’s caught Shirakumo’s attention the most during this fight is not the pure hatred that’s being thrown at him, but rather, “Midnight?! Sensei?! W-what? I don’t understand. Kayama is supposed to be in her 3<sup>rd</sup> year I—” he murmurs out loud, mostly to himself.</p><p> </p><p>“Everyone calm down—” Toshinori-sensei announces, trying to get back control of the situation.</p><p> </p><p>The woman in front doesn’t move, but doesn’t get out of her battle stance either. “All Might, he’s an imposter! He doesn’t even have Shirakumo’s quirk! He’s a villain! Get Shinsou away from him!” She directs.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Him? An imposter? </em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>“Who are you calling imposter?! The Midnight I know is way younger than you!” Shirakumo argues back aggressively, but at that exact moment is when she begins to attack again.</p><p> </p><p>“Shinsou, All Might! Move!” she orders as she once again tries to tackle Shirakumo. This time around, Toshino—no,<em> All Might</em> listens and grabs Shinsou to pull him into the infirmary and out of the way of the fight.</p><p> </p><p>Shirakumo pulls up another portal in front of him, thinking that she’ll just run through again, but instead she sidesteps and ends up to the left of Shirakumo. He’s unguarded on that side. Before he even looks beside him, he can hear the crack of a whip and suddenly the rope is around his left (thankfully unsprained) ankle and is throwing him off his balance. In no more than a second, he hits the floor with a pained cry. The fall hurt his sprained ankle too.</p><p> </p><p>He doesn’t even have time to register what’s happening before a body slams down onto his, effectively pinning him to the ground. With the sprain, the weight, and maneuvering of the other person on top of him, he won’t get out of this unless he opens a portal beneath him. But even that won’t do any good if the woman above him has a death grip on his hands. He struggles to break free.</p><p> </p><p>As much as this is a very dangerous situation, Shirakumo still can’t help but be a little flustered by how close this woman is and how it seemed that her bare chest is on his. Upon further inspection however, he belatedly realizes it’s actually skin-colored mesh covering most of what seemed to be her bare body. A thought strikes him.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>That would be a perfect material for Kayama’s quirk.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>The woman shakes him and brings him back to the moment. “Who are you and how the hell did you get into that form?” she hisses with distain. “If you don’t tell me now, then you can take a quick nap and I’ll be sure to get it out of you later, while you’re in a prison cell, villain.” Slowly, she pulls at the sleeve of her costume to reveal her real skin. There’s a familiar fragrance coming from it that instantly makes Shirakumo feel calm and sleepy.</p><p> </p><p>The pieces were coming together even as Shirakumo felt himself slowly drifting off. The costume’s mature nature, the way it so obviously an innuendo, the quirk that Shirakumo would know anywhere. Heck, all he really had to do was look at her face. As much older as she looks now, its still the same piercing sky blues eyes that are looking at his, still that same youthful spirited girl that rushed away with Sushi the cat the moment she got her hands on him. There’s no mistaking who this is.</p><p> </p><p>“Kayama…it really is you, isn’t it?” he asks in a soft, hushed manner. He doesn’t want to believe it, but he knows deep down its true. It suddenly clicks in his mind and everything that felt wrong since he arrived somehow makes sense, even though nothing about it makes sense at all. Perhaps it’s the exhaustion or even Kayama’s quirk, but all he knows is that this was the answer he’s been looking for.</p><p> </p><p>He needs a minute to process, to be alone and just breath without feeling like the world has turned upside down, but dear god, he does not want to fall asleep right now, especially if he wakes up trapped again. The thought of being imprisoned sends just the right amount of adrenaline he needs to hold off from Kayama’s quirk for a few moments longer. Its enough time for him to clearly picture different place he can portal to. Another safe place he knows he can hide for a while. The old gang hangout spot. He musters the rest of the energy he can and calls upon his quirk.</p><p> </p><p>“Midnight watch out! He’s opening a portal again!” All Might warns. Midnight limberly jumps off Shirakumo and out of the range of his mist portal just as it begins to form underneath him. He feels himself fall through and relief washes over him as he is freed of Midnight’s grip and has space to breathe. As soon as he’s through the portal he closes it.</p><p> </p><p>He hits the ground below with a thud and gasps for air that isn’t contaminated with Kayma’s quirk. Shirakumo is alone now and fights off the dreads of sleep as he tries to get a grip on what is happening. There’s so much information to process, so many pieces that he knows can fit together but doesn’t know how to put together. Or perhaps, he doesn’t want to put together, in fear for what that may mean for him.</p><p> </p><p>He lets himself take deep, heavy breaths and closes his eyes, hoping that it’ll soothe the throbbing in his head. Maybe if he can just ignore what’s going on for five minutes, he’ll be ready to face it after. Suddenly, there’s a voice calling out.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>“Hello? Is anyone there?”</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Shirakumo takes a sharp breath and jolts upwards, prepared to run, but when he looks, there’s no one else around. However, just a few meters away from him is Shinsou’s cellphone. Shinsou must have dropped it when Toshinori-sensei grabbed him and it fell through the portal with Shirakumo. There is still someone on call. Out of curiosity, Shirakumo moves to pick up the phone. He gasps at the caller ID.</p><p> </p><p><em>Eraserhead</em>, it says. It ends with a blackcat emoji.</p><p> </p><p>Just an hour ago, Oboro was sure that Shouta was dead. But then, that was before an older Kayama accused him of being an imposter of her dead friend and tried to kill him. At this point, nothing is impossible, and maybe Oboro just wants to believe that the world will let him win this once. Maybe he just wants to know his friend is alive. Maybe he just wants someone to comfort him. He tentatively speaks into the phone.</p><p> </p><p>“Shouta?”</p><p> </p><p>There’s a beat of silence. And then another. And another. And Oboro wonders if maybe this was a bad idea. But the voice speaks again, the tone laced with both heartbreak and hope all at once.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>“Oboro? Its me. Its Sho—”</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Oboro hangs up quickly.</p><p> </p><p>The voice was <em>wrong</em>. It was deep, and older, and very, very sad. He knows Shouta has always been on the gloomier side, but not that kind of gloomy. He doesn’t know what he was expecting, but it wasn’t that. If Nemuri’s age was anything to go by, the deep voice would make sense since Shouta would be around the same age as her, but Oboro just really does not want to deal with that right now. He doesn’t know <em>how</em> to deal with that.</p><p> </p><p>The phone begins to ring again in his hand. It’s the same caller ID: Eraserhead with the blackcat emoji at the end. Oboro just glares at the phone, hoping that his stare alone will make it end. Part of him wants to answer, wants to talk to his friend who he thought was dead and just rejoice in the miracle that he is alive, but a bigger part of him just wishes it would stop so he wouldn’t have to face whatever the heck is going on. Between these two pulls, he doesn’t have the courage to just decline the call completely. He decides to just wait out the ringing.</p><p> </p><p>He takes a seat on the floor and puts his back against the wall, taking a minute to enjoy the seen of stars above him and pretend like his life still makes sense. Eventually the ringing stops and the missed call notification pops up on the screen instead, but it was a mistake to look at the phone. Right above the missed call notification is the date today. Oboro’s first thought is that its wrong, but then everything that has happened since waking up flashes through his mind. The date isn’t wrong. <em>He is</em>. It wasn’t fair, but all signs seem to point to one conclusion.</p><p> </p><p>Somehow, one way or another, he’s woken up 15 years into the future.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Canon: everyone is about to get yeeted, the fans released pro-hero death bingo sheets, everything is falling apart.<br/>Me, writing fanfic: So anyways the rooftop gang is going to get a happy ending and you can rip that out of my cold dead hands.</p><p>I actually really liked writing this chapter and it was nice to do Shirakumo's perspective again. I think it turned out alright, but it was way longer than I expected it to be. Also, 2319 is a reference to something else, let me know if you get what I'm talking about in the comments.</p><p>Also sorry to everyone who's comments I haven't answered from the last chapter yet! Because I didn't have wifi I wasn't able to respond for a while but don't worry I'm getting to them I swear!!! It really means so so much to me that you guys take the time to comment and honestly all your comments are so gosh darn lovely and makes me all giddy inside.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Bittersweet Memories</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Sweet cheese sprinkles I forgot to post.</p><p>Chapter titles are so hard. Half of me is like "make it really sad and emotional" (hence Bittersweet memories) and the other half is like "make it a meme." The original chapter title was Voice Hero: Banana Hair to the Rescue. Its either sad or meme. There is no inbetween.</p><p>ALSOOO I was having such a hard time trying to figure out how to characterize Hizashi but then I found this gem of a fic: Sreaming Mad by TippyTap! I really liked how the author gave Mic so many emotional levels and really showed how the feelings progressed and tbh this was the characterization that really inspired me! Here's the link! Check it out and send some love for good fics!</p><p>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23900923</p><p>And some of you got it already, but for those who didn't, 2319 is a Monsters Inc reference when a white sock gets through the door. I thought it was like, intruder because like the white sock intruded. Idk I thought it was funny.</p><p>Woot woot. Here's the chapter. Im tired. Enjoy.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Most people would never guess it, but Yamada Hizashi is a man with a temper. Most of the time, its fine and he can compartmentalize and push the anger away. Most of the time, when he’s simply living life, he really is just the crazy loud goof ball with an itch for parties and a good time. But in certain instances, when he stops moving for just a bit, when there’s no job to be done and no friends in need of his help, he can feel the rage boiling under his skin. Like there’s a fire that’s burning deep in his soul and its heating up everything from the inside out.</p><p> </p><p>There’s a lot to unpack with the situation he finds himself in currently, but Yamada Hizashi will save that for a later date. Right now, it’s repression time. Push all those angry emotions away and focus on the job at hand. Compartmentalize it until he actually has time to deal with it, and then realize he’ll never have time to deal with it (he’s head of the English department, a pro-hero, radio host, and part-time DJ, so time is a bit of a scarcity in his life), and then hopefully he’ll forget about it and never have to deal with it.</p><p> </p><p>Ignore it for a little while longer, because right now, his friends needed him.</p><p> </p><p>As of the moment, him and Shouta are racing through the streets, well over the maximum speed limit. Thanks to their hero licenses, its technically legal since they are in an emergency. Between the two of them, Hizashi is glad he’s the one driving. Firstly because he doesn’t know if Shouta will be able to drive safely given how emotionally taxed his friend is right now. That’s not to say that Hizashi isn’t, but in comparison, Hizashi’s got a better grip on those mixed feelings. Secondly, because Yamada Hizashi is a responsible and safe driver, he does not use his phone while driving, so that means that he isn’t the one that has to explain what exactly is going on to Nemuri.</p><p> </p><p>Eraserhead has the phone on speaker so Mic can hear the conversation, but its mostly Eraser that’s doing the talking. As much as he sympathizes his friend’s struggle to explain a completely irrational story, he’s glad he isn’t in the direct crossfire of Midnight’s anger. She’s using her scary voice when there are no villains around, which is always a bad sign. Luckily, its Shouta on the phone so she’ll be slightly less mad.</p><p> </p><p>They had first tried calling Shinsou, but the phone rang and went straight to voicemail. Hizashi didn’t point anything out, but he did notice how Shouta’s stress levels spiked even further after that. As much as the thought of having any of his students in danger worried Eraserhead, having his protégé in danger was one of the worst scenarios. The mention of a student being kidnapped over the phone did nothing to help either of the teachers’ concern. The only thing they had to calm them was the fact that Nezu said Oboro was at infirmary with All Might, which meant Shinsou must have been there too. In Present Mic’s humble opinion, Shinsou Hitoshi is basically like Shouta’s little mini-me. If anything ever happened to the little listener, he’s not sure if Eraserhead would ever recover.</p><p> </p><p>The next person they tried to call was All Might. Luckily he answered immediately and informed them of the situation. He also let Shinsou talk on the phone and Hizashi could quite literally feel the tension in the car drop as his friend confirmed that the tired eyed teenage was perfectly fine. It was always kind of cute how soft Eraserhead could get when he feels comfortable enough to let it show. Shinsou explained that his phone had fallen through the portal with Shirakumo and now he doesn’t know where it, or Shirakumo, were. He also said that Midnight attacked Shirakumo, believing he was some kind of villain. After that, Midnight took the phone and really started to chew them out for leaving her in the dark about everything.</p><p> </p><p>This leads them to their current conversation with Midnight and having to explain the whole Shirakumo is (was?) Kurogiri situation. There’s always been a part of Hizashi that thinks they should have told her about it the moment they learned of the information, but it was a classified investigation and they were asked to go there as heroes and not friends. Nevertheless, she still had a right to know. They were all friends and they were all there the day he died. Hizashi knows that deep down, Nemuri and him share a sense of anger at life over everything that happened.</p><p> </p><p>Mic is pulled out of his own thoughts by the sound of Eraser’s signature annoyed voice. “Midnight, why did you think attacking him was a good idea?” He asks over the phone.</p><p> </p><p>“Well considering the year UA’s had so far I think I’m justified.” Midnight defends forcefully. “All we knew was that Shirakumo suddenly resurrected from the dead and then Nezu says he might be Kurogiri or related somehow, and how this might be a targeted attack on me, or Mic, or you. What did you expect me to think when I saw him so close to Shinsou?”</p><p> </p><p>Eraserhead grunts and slouches back into the passenger seat. For as long as they’ve been heroes, Mic has never seen Midnight jump the gun like she did with Shirakumo just now. She’s a hero that’s very collected and has her wits about her, even when its something as deep cutting as this. But he can see what she’s saying. It was the fact that, one, its hard to believe Shirakumo resurrected; two, the fact that he had any relation to the League of Villains who have on numerous occasions put students at risk; and three, perhaps most importantly, the student in ‘danger’ in this particular instance was Shinsou, who she knows has a deep relationship with Eraserhead. If Mic had only known what she’d known about the situation and seen resurrected Shirakumo with Shinsou, he too would say that a villain was trying to target Eraserhead using two people he holds close to his heart.</p><p> </p><p>All Hizashi is trying to say is that Midnight has some solid reasons for going apeshit and like, same sis. He relates to that fury.</p><p> </p><p>“All valid points,” Mic shouts into the phone since Eraserhead is too busy sulking to answer. “But we still have to find him. His life is in danger if he gets too overwhelmed. Do you have any idea where he could have gone?”</p><p> </p><p>“I have no clue,” she resigns in a more business like voice. “I—wait hang on Shinsou is trying to tell me something.” Mic and Eraser sit in silence as a quick conversation brews on the other end of the line. Finally, Nemuri gets back to them. “Shinsou said he can figure out where Shirakumo is. If you talked to Shirakumo on Shinsou’s phone, then Shinsou can use his find-my-phone application and see where it is. It hasn’t been that long, so even if Shirakumo ditched the phone, he’ll probably be somewhere around there.”</p><p> </p><p>“That’s if he didn’t open another warp-gate after hanging up,” Shouta replies grimly. “But it’s the best bet we have. We’ll be there soon.” He hangs up the call and goes quiet.</p><p> </p><p>Annoyed silence wasn’t new with Shouta, but distant silence mixed with the fear and stress he’s been showing was a giveaway that things were very, very dire. “We’ll find him before anything bad happens.” Hizashi assures him, but truth be told, he was more trying to assure himself.</p><p> </p><p>“I know,” is all his friend says. There’s a childlike hope to Shouta’s tone that Hizashi hasn’t heard since they were in highschool. As inspiring as that is, its also reminder of everything that has happened over the past 15 years, and how both of them have changed so much. Hizashi doubts he’s anything like he used to be. He’s still the loud mouthed, hyperactive, life of the party guy, but there are layers to him now that makes everything in his life more complicated. There are things that life has thrown his way and things that life has ripped out from under him that reminds him of how much of life is left to chance, how much of it he can’t control, how easily good things can be taken. That makes him angry.</p><p> </p><p>He’s not quite sure if he’s worried that Oboro won’t recognize him, or worried that he won’t see the difference.</p><p> </p><p>Eventually, the two pro-heroes make it back to UA in record time thanks to speeding. Upon further inspection, Mic notices that they’ve tighten up security thanks to the ‘Procedure 2319: Intruder Alert’ situation they had on their hands. A normal civilian won’t notice, but there are a bunch of Ectopalsm clones roaming about the campus in the shadows, likely doing recon and scouting the area for any villains. At night, its nearly impossible to see him, and the only reason Mic does is because he knows where to look. Both him and Eraserhead do a quick security check with one of the Ectoplasms and then head over to principal Nezu’s office. Shinsou and Midnight were going to meet them there with Shinsou’s laptop to track the phone.</p><p> </p><p>Mic knocks on the door of the office and is hastily greeted by principal Nezu’s tiny figure. “Present Mic! Eraserhead! Glad you could make it!” the small mouse-man says gleefully and gestures them inwards. Already inside are Midnight, Shinsou, and Recovery Girl, all hunched over Shinsou’s laptop by the desk. Midnight gives both of them a hard gaze as they walk in.</p><p> </p><p>Hizashi opts to pretend he didn’t see it in exchange for watching Shouta go soft and let out a relieved breath at the sight of Shinsou. In reality, its not a very perceivable action, but the two of them have been friends long enough to know each other’s tells. Eraserhead puts a hand on Shinsou’s shoulder, moves into the teen’s line of sight, and says, “I’m sorry you got dragged into this. Are you okay?”</p><p> </p><p>Shinsou looks up at his mentor like Eraserhead has all the answers in the world. Its hard to notice past the tiredness in his eyes, but the younger gives the pro a faint yet comforting smiles and shrugs. “I’m fine. All Might, Mirdoriya, Eri and I actually ran into him by accident. You didn’t really have anything to do with it.” Its cute, Hizashi thinks.</p><p> </p><p>“Still,” Eraserhead urges. “Its my problem and you shouldn’t have to be so tangled up in it.” Shouta pauses and then remembers. “If you’re phone is broken I can pay to get you a new one or have your old one fixed, whichever you prefer.”</p><p> </p><p>“New phone sounds pretty cool,” Shinsou replies with dry humor. An amused smile graces Eraserhead’s face. Shinsou continues. “Anyways, we actually just got a location on the phone. Its still in UA, somewhere in Building B but it doesn’t say which floor.”</p><p> </p><p>“We have security cameras covering every inch inside these buildings,” Recovery Girl remarks. “How could we not have seen him if he’s inside?”</p><p> </p><p>Hizashi mentally goes through all the floors in Building B. Even when he was in highschool, the security cameras were already in place and covering nearly every corner. The only places that are not caught on film are the bathrooms and the changing rooms (for obvious reasons), but even then, there are motions sensors to indicate if there is someone in the room. Oboro already knows all of this, so its hard to think he would be trying to hide somewhere in the building. “Are you sure its Building B? Maybe the location is a little bit off.”</p><p> </p><p>“No, its definitely Building B and I know exactly where he went,” Nemuri answers confidently. The entire room turns their attention to her. “Don’t you two remember?” She asks Hizashi and Shouta.</p><p> </p><p>Hizashi draws a blank and glances over to Shouta who looks just as dumbfounded. He racks his brain for the simple memories of highschool that are filled both with joy and bitterness. The golden images of their younger selves, their rooftop gang, will always be fond to Hizashi, even when those tender moments end in blood and tragedy. That’s when he finally understands what Kayama is talking about.</p><p> </p><p>“The rooftop,” Mic realizes. “There’s not a lot of security scanners up there, and Oboro knows that.”</p><p> </p><p>Eraserhead nods in acknowledgement. “That’s why we went up there. Because he kept bringing Sushi to school and we had to hide up there so he could take the cat out of his clothes. And that’s where we met you and then you took the cat.” He addresses at Nemuri. She lets out a little chuckle at the comment.</p><p> </p><p>Hizashi smiles at the thought. Those were good times.</p><p> </p><p>“I thought students weren’t allowed on the roofs. You were a rule breaker, Aizawa-sensei?” Shinsou asks curiously, but there’s a devilish look in his eyes like he’ll never let Eraserhead forget it.</p><p> </p><p>“Do not get any ideas.” Aizawa warns and gives Shinsou a stern look.</p><p> </p><p>“Well we know where he might be at least,” Recovery Girls gets back on track. “Now it’s a matter of how do we get him to cooperate with us and not run away. You said if he gets too overwhelmed he could be seriously injured, right?”</p><p> </p><p>Eraserhead nods. “As far as we know,” he says. “We weren’t planning on telling him anything at first. We didn’t want to overwhelm him, but considering everything that just happened, it’s probably better if we came clean. It’ll be less confusing for him.”</p><p> </p><p>“Especially after seeing Midnight at 32,” Mic adds, which wins him another death-glare from Nemuri. “Plus if anyone is going to be able to calm him down, it has to be someone he trusts.”</p><p> </p><p>“So then its settled,” Nezu speaks up and climbs onto the table in front of them. “We’ll have to send you three. He’s not going to trust a stranger and he’s already suspicious of everyone he’s met here so far. It has to be you three.”</p><p> </p><p>The thought of that makes Mic’s gut coil. He doesn’t think Nemuri and Shouta have been up there since Oboro died. He himself has visited, alone, just to remember his old friend, but now Oboro may or may not be there and that dredges up all kinds of feelings he hasn’t felt in a while. When he first became a teacher and visited the rooftop, there was pain, but there was also nostalgia and always knowing that Oboro would be up there somewhere watching him. After learning about Kurogiri, it sent Mic’s world spinning. He thought the last thing he’d ever do for his cloud friend was attend his funeral, and when they found out about the hospital raid, it was bringing the doctor who did that to him to justice. But those were all after effects, something to remember a dead friend by. Right now, Oboro really is sitting up on that rooftop, needing help, and Hizashi finally has a chance to be the friend he wish he had been all those years ago, the friend that could have saved him.</p><p> </p><p>“Okay then, lets go.” Eraserhead breaks the silence, never being the type to delay the inevitable, especially when there are people in need of rescue. Hizashi wonders if Shouta is feeling the same hesitancy he is.</p><p> </p><p>“Wait,” Mic grabs Eraserhead’s arm to hold him back. “We shouldn’t go all at once. All three of us are 15 years older from the last time he saw us, it might be too much if he has to process all of that at once.”</p><p> </p><p>“That’s true. And Midnight attacked him. And he hung up on Eraserhead,” Nezu further comments. “Out of the three of you, two of you have already had negative interactions with him. Perhaps its best to send Present Mic in first.”</p><p> </p><p>All the pressure lands on Hizashi. “Sounds good, man.” He quickly answers with finger guns. He swallows the hesitation and puts those mixed feelings aside for later. His friends need him, all of them, not just Oboro. Shouta has been riding the emotional rollercoaster ever since they got in the car today. A minute or two would be good for him to gather his thoughts. Nemuri too needs time to process this. She’s only just learned about the Kurogiri reveal now and there are wounds that reopening for her. If Hizashi can help ease the hardest part of whole kerfuffle, then he’ll do it for his friends. As confusing as the situation is, he’s a pro-hero and he knows how to deal with things like these, even when its so personal.</p><p> </p><p>Eraserhead and Midnight look at him with concern but merely nod with acceptance. “Text us when its okay to come up then,” Midnight requests. “I think I need to apologize for rampaging on him.”</p><p> </p><p>“Knowing him, he probably got all flustered by your dominating attitude and revealing outfit,” he teases to lessen their worry. When Present Mic sees a joke opportunity, he takes the joke opportunity. “Tell us when Tsukuachi calls back. We’ll also need to figure out where to put Oboro after.” He tells Nezu. With that, Hizashi, Shouta, and Nemuri head to Building B’s rooftop leaving Shinsou to be escorted back to the dorm by Recovery Girl and Nezu to get in contact with the detective.</p><p> </p><p>The three of them, heading to the rooftop together to catch up with Oboro really does feel like the good old days. Bittersweet memories begin to resurface for all of them.</p><p> </p><p>Once they reach the staircase that will lead them all the way to the top, the other two stay behind. Hizashi gives them a grin and a thumbs up, even as his own nerves are shaking. There are no words exchanged, but there’s a mutual feeling of hope and terror in the air. There’s also a look Nermuri shoots Shouta like she’s about to chew him out again for not telling her. Hizashi is glad he won’t have to be here for that part.</p><p> </p><p>Finally, he begins to make the ascent.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I swear to gawd the next chapter is the reunion. It was supposed to be in this chapter but then it got too long. </p><p>We stan a soft Aizawa who loves his kids. We also stan a loyal and caring Yamada. We also also stan LETTING NEMURI FRICKIN KNOW ABOUT THE KUROGIRI IS SHIRAKUMO DEAL BECAUSE SHE DESERVES TO KNOW AND I LOVE HER. </p><p>Also, yeah I know I've been switching a lot between using their given names or family names and I actually did have a like a whole process to figure out which names to use. It was supposed to be like given to represent the close thoughts about relationship, family for professionalism or distance, and hero for business. But then idk if that shows and I kinda gave a little bit on that. My bad.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Reunion</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Reunion</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Reunion</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Before Hizashi actually reaches the door that will lead onto the rooftop, he takes a deep breath. He thinks that before barging in on an already terrified Oboro, he should give the guy a little warning that he’s coming up. Luckily, Hizashi’s quirk voice hasn’t changed that much since highschool. Of course his voice has dropped a few octaves, but not as much as Shouta’s. Plus, because of his quirk, his shouting voice still generally has the same pitch, just a little different. If he shouts, Oboro will likely recognize his voice.</p><p> </p><p>He stops just before the last flight of stairs, the door to the roof already insight. He takes a few seconds to steel his nerves, then a deep breathe, and screams “OBORO? ARE YOU THERE? ITS HIZASHI!”</p><p> </p><p>Almost immediately, there’s a frantic yet relieved voice answering back, “’Zashi?!” It’s Oboro voice, exactly how Hizashi remembers it. Man. That just sends him hurdling back into those good old days. “Hizashi! I was so worried about you and I—Ow!”</p><p> </p><p>“OBORO? ARE YOU OKAY? WHAT HAPPENED?” Hizashi shouts back frantically.</p><p> </p><p>“I can’t stand up! My ankle’s pretty busted! Can you come up here?” Oboro asks.</p><p> </p><p>Hizashi wants to go up and see his friend, but he also needs to give fair warning about him being 15 years older than when Oboro last saw him. “BEFORE I GO UP, I NEED TO TELL SOMETHING THAT MAY BE HARD TO BELIEVE.”</p><p> </p><p>“I already know, ‘Zashi. 15 years.” Oboro responds back with a resigned tone.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>He already knows? How—</em>
</p><p> </p><p>At the mention of the truth, Hizashi is bolting up the stairs, through the door, and out onto the rooftop. He turns the corner and finally sees his old friend, illuminated by the moonlight, sitting with his back against the wall and right leg extended out exactly where they used to sit when they snuck up here to eat lunch. Oboro is just like how he remembers him, the exact same image Hizashi visualized when he used to come up here by himself thinking that Oboro’s spirit was here watching him. It’s the same muscular build, same big deep blue eyes, same cloudlike hair. Nothing has changed.</p><p> </p><p>It’s almost as if he never even left.</p><p> </p><p>There’s a look of surprise on Oboro’s face as he eyes Hizashi up and down. Hizashi realizes that his entire look must come as a shock and Oboro is trying to decide whether or not he believes Hizashi is the real Hizashi, not just some imposter or fabricated fantasy made to catch him again. After hearing how Oboro’s day has gone, Hizashi guesses the suspicion is something he should have expected, but that knowledge doesn’t make it hurt any less.</p><p> </p><p>When Oboro’s eyes finally meet his own, Oboro smiles softly, allows the tension in his shoulders to drop, and lets out a relieved sigh. “Zashi,” is his only word. Its not really calling out his name, but rather a confirmation that he believes this is the real deal.</p><p> </p><p>“How do you know?” is the first impulsive words that come out of Hizashi’s mouth. Even to his own ears it sounds pretty harsh.</p><p> </p><p>“Only the real Yamada Hizashi would be brave enough wear his hair like that,” Oboro answers, pointing to the iconic Present Mic hairstyle. “Even if someone were to try and imitate you as a 30 year old, literally no one would have guessed that hairdo. Its like a banana, dude.”</p><p> </p><p>“Ever heard of style?” he instantly teases back with ease. It surprises even himself that he can so seamlessly pick up the rhythm of their conversation. Hizashi aggressively points to his entire outfit. “I am a trend setter. The. Pinnacle. Of. Hero. Fashion.”</p><p> </p><p>Oboro bursts out in laughter. That would have offended Hizashi, but seeing Oboro happy and laughing and alive makes him laugh as well. He doesn’t remember the last time he laughed with Oboro before the accident, but he thinks he will always remember this moment. “Move over,” he demands and Oboro scoots but winces when he moves his right leg. Hizashi sits down next to him. “How bad is the ankle?”</p><p> </p><p>“I didn’t think it was that bad at first,” Oboro comments. “But then Nemuri attacked me and I feel through a portal and that didn’t really help it at all.” It surprises Hizashi how calm Oboro is about everything.</p><p> </p><p>“The good news is that it doesn’t look broken. Probably just sprained,” Hizashi tells him. There’s the smarter, subconscious part of Hizashi that knows he’s only giving a lot of attention to the injury to avoid the bigger, heavier topics that will need to be discussed tonight, but he will hold on to this distraction for as long as he needs to if it means a few more seconds of almost normalcy. “Badly sprained, but not broken. Probably will need to ice it and keep off it for at least a week. Maybe two. You might need a cane or crutch, but we have a few of those in the clinic that—”</p><p> </p><p>“Hizashi,” Oboro gently cuts off his ramblings and puts a hand on Hizashi’s shoulder. His voice sounds a little wet. “I have had the worst day ever. C-can I have…would it b-be okay…with you…if I…I…”</p><p> </p><p>Oboro doesn’t even need to finish his sentence. Hizashi quickly envelops him in a bear hug and holds tight, mindful not to jostle the injured ankle too much. Oboro tuck his head into the curve of Hizashi’s shoulder and his arms come up to grab onto Hizashi like he’s a lifeline. There are hot tears that trickle down from Oboro’s check. It takes a minute to realize, but Hizashi is tearing up too.</p><p> </p><p>“You know, 15 years might have passed, but your hugs are still the best,” Oboro manages to get out through his sniffles.</p><p> </p><p>Hizashi squeezes him even tighter. “Jeez, man. I’ve missed you so much.”</p><p> </p><p>Hizashi doesn’t really know how long the two of them stay like that, but its nice and warm and something he always wished he could have had one last chance at. That day at Tasomiya, no one had a clue what kind of hell would be coming for them. There was no warning sign or parting farewells. One minute Oboro was alive, and the next he wasn’t. Hizashi never got to say goodbye.</p><p> </p><p>But this felt like a good way to say hello again.</p><p> </p><p>Eventually the two of them let go when Hizashi phone starts to vibrate in his pocket. He pulls it out and sees a text from Shouta asking whether its alright for him and Nemuri to come up or not. Hizashi knows that’s also Shouta’s way of saying he’s worried that they haven’t heard from Hizashi in a while and he’s wondering if he’ll have to rescue two friends tonight instead of just the one.</p><p> </p><p>“Oboro, you know, Nemuri and Shouta are downstairs too.” Hizashi speaks carefully, trying to gage whether Oboro will be ready to see them all at once. “They’re wondering whether its okay to come up too. But if you feel like it might be too much then I can just tell them to wait.”</p><p> </p><p>Oboro looks away to the distance, seemingly lost in thought. “They’re both okay?” he asks.</p><p> </p><p>“Out of the four of us, you’re the one that’s the furthest from okay at the moment, all things considered.” Hizashi offers in response.</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah,” Oboro answers quietly at first, but then sounds more confident as he continues and turns to face Hizashi. “Yeah I want to see them too. Just so long as Nemuri doesn’t try to tackle me again.”</p><p> </p><p>Hizashi laughs and relays the message over to Shouta. “They should be coming up soon.”</p><p> </p><p>Within minutes the rooftop door is busting open and onto the roof come Shouta and Nemuri, both looking as excited as they are nervous. Hizashi gives them a grin and a small wave. What he wouldn’t do right now for a camera. They stand there seemingly frozen in shock at the sight.</p><p> </p><p>Beside him, Oboro shoots his own toothy grin and waves. “Hey there guys. I guess long time no see, huh?” he says weakly.</p><p> </p><p>Nemuri cups her hands over her mouth at the sight of Oboro’s smile. Shouta pushes his bangs out of his face in order to get a better look. There are very few times Eraserhead and Midnight have ever look so immensely flabbergasted, and Hizashi thinks he wants to remember this moment forever.</p><p> </p><p>“Oboro? It really is you.” Nemuri whispers in awe.</p><p> </p><p>“The one and only,” Oboro responds back, but his smile is wobbling like he’s about to cry again.</p><p> </p><p>“Shut up,” Shouta says nostalgically and he finally moves to the unoccupied side of Oboro and gives him a bone-crushing hug. Nemuri is moving fast too and grabs Hizashi in as she wraps her arms around all three of them.</p><p> </p><p>“Woah!” Hizashi snaps in surprise, then laughs. “Group hug!”</p><p> </p><p>There are tears and there are laughs. There are sniffles and hiccups. There is warmth and friendship and simplicity Hizashi has direly missed from their highschool days. It felt good to just melt into the hug and watch as the rest of their problems slowly became nothing but blimps in the distance. Its as if they’ve stolen back a moment that death had taken from them, like a vestige of the past, revived or ripped out of time, just simply to exist here and now.</p><p> </p><p>“Guys, I can’t breath,” Oboro finally breaks the silence after who knows how long they were huddled together.</p><p> </p><p>Nemuri is the first to back off. She wipes her eyes and mirthfully mutters, “Sorry Oboro, we’re just really happy you’re here.” She laughs sheepishly and then continues. “And sorry about earlier. I didn’t know about the whole situation and I wanted to protect Shinsou.”</p><p> </p><p>“Its okay,” he replies. “I didn’t know then either. And sorry for trying to portal you, but you fight really well.” Leave it to Shirakumo Oboro to always look at the brighter side of things.</p><p> </p><p>Its now Hizashi and Shouta’s turn to untangle themselves from the group hug, but before Shouta can exit all the way, Oboro roughly pulls him in again. “I thought you died Sho. Don’t ever scare me like that again, okay?” From the hug, he looks up at Nemuri and Hizashi. “You two too, okay? This entire day has been the worst because I thought something horrible happened to you guys.”</p><p> </p><p>One of the darker corners of Hizashi’s mind whispers, <em>Well isn’t that ironic?</em></p><p> </p><p>Shouta sits back and looks Oboro in the eyes. “You were worried about us the entire day?” he asks with a deadpan expression, like he cannot believe this guy. “You thought I died?”</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, it was a whole thing.” Oboro starts rambling. “I woke up strapped to a bed and there were kidnappers and then my quirks different. I didn’t know quirks could do that. And then I read the paper and I thought the dead intern mentioned in it was you but now that I think about it, it was probably me. I mean Nemuri did say I was supposed to be dead—”</p><p> </p><p>“Wait, wait hang on,” Shouta interrupts, then turns to Hizashi. “What have you told him so far?”</p><p> </p><p>Hizashi just shrugs. “Actually, nothing. He already knew that 15 years had passed.” He belatedly realizes. “By the way, how did you know that?”</p><p> </p><p>“Oh!” Oboro exclaims, then reaches beside him and pulls up a phone with a cracked screen and turns it on. The date and missed calls from Eraserhead (with a black cat emoji! Adorable.) are displayed on it. “The first year with lavender colored hair, Shinsou. He dropped his phone and it fell through the portal with me. When I saw the date, everything made sense. Nemuri’s age, Shouta’s voice, and the fact that there was a bunch of new faculty I have never met. I don’t know how to explain it, but I knew it had to be true. I was going to give it back to Shinsou when I could, but I kinda feel bad for breaking the screen.”</p><p> </p><p>“Don’t worry that crack was already there,” Shouta brushes off with ease then realizes the others don’t have context for that information. “He left it in his pocket last Friday when I was teaching him how to use the capture weapon. It fell out when we were midair.” Hizashi and Nemuri giggle at the idea. The two of them always like thinking about how Shinsou is like a little Eraserhead. “Anyways,” Shouta ignores them. “You probably have a lot of questions, Oboro.”</p><p> </p><p>Nemuri quickly follows Shouta’s train of thought. “Waking up 15 years into the future, and then reading the article saying you died, it’s a lot to process and probably really confusing. But we have time right now if you have questions.” Even though he knows how good Midnight is at handling difficult situations, it amazes and confuses Hizashi how she can bounce back so quickly form learning everything that happened to Oboro just half an hour or so prior.</p><p> </p><p>“Or if you need time to process what’s going on first, we’ll have time later too.” Hizashi adds on. It feels good to say they have time. “Just let us know what’s on your mind.” He gets comfy in his sitting position. This could be a long conversation.</p><p> </p><p>Oboro looks down and avoids their eyes. Hizashi can almost see the gears working in his mind, thoughts racing as he tries to pick at them. There is so much they need to talk about, and part of Hizashi doesn’t want to tell Oboro everything. He doesn’t want his friend to know what had happened to his body for the past 15 years and what exactly they made the reanimated zombie do. He’s not sure if Oboro will even understand it completely. To this day, Hizashi still has trouble believing it and there’s still so much anger over what happened to his friend.</p><p> </p><p>“Uh, yeah,” Oboro starts, the rest of the group clinging onto every word he says. “I have so many questions. I just—there’s so much. I guess…I guess one of the things I’ve been wondering about…well, uh, Shouta, you know Shinsou seems like he really takes after you and likes you a lot. Is he your, you know…your…”</p><p> </p><p>Shouta seems to apprehend what Oboro is trying to say and answers without hearing the rest of the question, “Ah yes, my student.” But this proves to be a huge mistake as Oboro immediately blurts out at the same time, “Is he your son??”</p><p> </p><p>Time stops for everyone. Nemuri’s lips quickly turn into the widest smile she can manage but she tries to hide her giggles behind cupped hands. Hizashi has absolutely no shame and bursts out laughing. Shouta’s eyes seem to be bulging out of his head at the accusation. Oboro realizes the huge but hilarious misunderstanding he just made and his mouth is now trying to say either ‘big oof’ or ‘my bad’ but his voice is stuck in his throat and all that comes out is a strangled “myboof.”</p><p> </p><p>Shouta is the first person to say anything coherent, “What the—why would you think he’s my son?!”</p><p> </p><p>“Shouta, come on!” Hizashi grabs Shouta’s shoulder and tries to speak through his laughter. “Nemuri and I have been telling you this since day one! And now even Oboro is asking!”</p><p> </p><p>“The eyes, Shouta! Your eyes are the same!” Oboro defends his position and makes the shape of Shouta’s eyes in the air with his fingers as if that will prove anything.</p><p> </p><p>“Because we both have deep eye bags?” Shouta shoots back, offended and not amused. “So does that mean everyone who has deep eye bags is somehow related to me?”</p><p> </p><p>“Are you asking me seriously or…?” Oboro teases with a sly smile.</p><p> </p><p>“Don’t answer that.” Shouta orders but that only elicits more laughter from the other three.</p><p> </p><p>“Okay, okay, but,” Nemuri interjects, raising her finger. “Oboro, Shinsou does act a lot like Sho, right? Its not just the eyes.”</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah! Yeah! Shouta, you gotta believe me!” Oboro answers back excitedly. “You guys get shy the same and you both look like your annoyed by the world but then there’s a soft smile that comes when you’re really happy about something! Its almost like—”</p><p> </p><p>“LIKE HE’S A MINI SHOUTA!” Hizashi interrupts. Oboro and him go for the high-five, and man does that feel good.</p><p> </p><p>“Exactly!” Oboro yells in triumph.</p><p> </p><p>As the other three tear up because of laughter, Shouta sits in their circle brushing a hand through his hair in an exasperated manner. “You already know Shinsou is a first year, so even if you didn’t know how old he was, he would have at least needed to be 15. How could I have been his father? I’m only 31.”</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, you would have been around 16, maybe 17 when he was born. Its possible, it happens.” Oboro vehemently argues. “I mean it was just so weird to think you would have to, ya know, do the thing, while I knew you. I went to your 16<sup>th</sup> birthday Shouta, and you could have had a kid then and not told anybody!”</p><p> </p><p>Hizashi starts laughing even louder. He’s laughing so hard he can barely breath. Nemuri’s grip on his shoulder is so strong he thinks she might be dying due to lack of oxygen. Shouta slowly drags his hand down his face as if it could remove the tiredness in his eyes that’s only getting deeper because of this conversation. “That’s not the point!” Shouta refutes. “Did you think I was the type of guy going around boinking people at 16?”</p><p> </p><p>“BOINKING?!” Hizashi, Oboro, and Nemuri shout at the same time and howl with laughter.</p><p> </p><p>“It’s a habit!” Shouta immediately tries to defend himself. “Have you met my class? I teach teenagers for a living and this class is just so—I cannot even use the word sex around them without Mineta getting creepy around the girls.”</p><p> </p><p>Nemuri opts to ignore that tidbit of information and instead yells back through her heavy cackles, “Wow Eraser, I wonder what my hero costume is an innuendo for. Probably BOINKING right?!”</p><p> </p><p>Hizashi jumps on that comedy train even as Shouta gives him a death-glare. “Hey Shouta! You wanna know how babies are made? Mommy and daddy do a BOINKING and then a baby is born!”</p><p> </p><p>Oboro doesn’t even need to say anything substantial. All he shouts is “BOINK!” and their entire circle falls down in a giggle fit. Even Shouta’s irritated façade falls and the man finally lets himself chuckle just enough. Hizashi wonders why he was even nervous about this to begin with. Having a conversation with these guys was sometimes even easier than breathing.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh man Oboro, if you thought Shinsou was a big reveal, wait till you hear about Eri!” Hizashi says before he can think better of it.</p><p> </p><p>“Eri? Oh you mean the little girl with the horn?” Oboro asks lightly. Hizashi briefly wonders if maybe Oboro remembers that she’s the one that brought him back to world of the living. “Yeah that was her name! I met her when I met Shinsou. They were the ones that found me.”</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Huh. Guess not.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>“Wait a minute! Are you guys trying to tell me that she’s Shouta’s <em>daughter</em>?!” Oboro talks on without noticing the slight change in mood Hizashi displayed. “Shouta!? Who’s her mom?!”</p><p> </p><p>Shouta groans. “She’s not my daughter. I’m Eri’s main caretaker,” he explains, but there’s a softness to his voice that Hizashi notices. Shouta does it subconsciously every time he talks about the sweet little girl. “She’s been through a lot and can’t control her quirk. Its dangerous, so I’m always around to stop her if she needs it. Technically she’s an orphan but she does have a grandfather that’s been in a coma for some time. The doctors don’t really know if he’ll wake up.”</p><p> </p><p>Hizashi rolls his eyes and points at Shouta . “Yeah, but she looks up to you like you’re her father. And don’t think the rest of us don’t notice how close you are with her. What about that drawing she gave you on Father’s Day?”</p><p> </p><p>“She gave one to Midoriya and Mirio too,” he tries to argue.</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, but that’s because she didn’t completely understand the concept of the holiday.” Nemuri tells him sternly, leaving no room for interpretation. “Plus, those two are far too young to be her father figure. Older brothers? Sure. But there’s only one man in our faculty dorm that she loves with her whole heart.”</p><p> </p><p>“Hrrn,” Shouta grunts as he barriers his head in his capture weapon and crosses his arms. Despite the capture weapon blocking his face, the other three can still clearly see the soft smile he’s trying to hide.</p><p> </p><p>“Aw Sho, you’re amazing with kids! I bet you’re a great dad.” Oboro compliments with a smile. There’s a pause in the conversation after that, small but noticeable. For just a moment, Oboro’s smile flickers with a look of loss and uncertainty. Hizashi can understand that. Even when they were younger, Shouta being secretly great with kids was always a hot topic of conversation, but it was different now that he actually had a kid of his own. It’s a reminder that so much time has passed without Oboro. Regardless, the Oboro quickly covers up that bit of hurt thinking that no one else noticed, and changes his kind smile to one of joking suspicion. “But just so I’m clear, Shouta doesn’t have any biological kids that we know of yet? Come on guys. Spill, I want to know everything.”</p><p> </p><p>Hizashi snorts at the idea of Shouta having secret love children, but he doesn’t miss the tactic Oboro is trying to pull. The fact that he’s only talking about Shouta’s life, the way he keeps redirecting the pain he’s feeling, and even that small glimpse of loss, are all signs towards Oboro’s inner turmoil. Hizashi wouldn’t go as far to say he’s hiding his feelings from them. Rather, Hizashi thinks that perhaps Oboro doesn’t want to face his biggest problem. A quick sideways glance towards Nemuri’s concerned expression tells Hizashi she’s noticed as well.</p><p> </p><p>Shouta seems to catch onto this too. “How is this the first thing on you mind after waking up 15 years into the future?” Shouta says jokingly agitated trying to change the subject, but there’s something more than just annoyance motivating him. “Be serious Oboro, are you okay?”</p><p> </p><p>Oboro looks away from them, and his face speaks volumes of the confusing feelings he has inside. He sighs realizing he can’t avoid this forever. “I don’t know. I don’t even know where to start asking,” he says in defeat. “I guess its just more interesting to hear what you guys have been up to then figure out what the heck happened to me.” Again, there’s a brief glimpse of terror and pain in Oboro’s eyes that makes Hizashi wonders whether Oboro remembers more of the past 15 years than he lets on.</p><p> </p><p>“Do you <em>want</em> to know what happened?” Nemuri prods carefully. There is no force in her voice, simply innocent concern. But her eyes are hard, a warning that Oboro had better tell the truth. There’s also a second question she’s asking: whether or not Oboro can handle that information right now.</p><p> </p><p>“No,” Oboro whispers quickly then panics. “I mean, not right now…I guess. Its just that today has been a lot to take in. Maybe…maybe tomorrow? Is that okay?” He gives the trio a pensive and nervous look that Hizashi almost confuses with fear. Those are not feelings anyone would generally associate with Oboro. There’s definitely something more he’s not sharing with the rest of them.</p><p> </p><p>But if he’s not ready, its better not to push him right now. “Its alright. We have time, remember?” Hizashi comforts him as he lays a hand on Oboro’s shoulder and gives it a squeeze. “But if there’s anything you need now, just tell us. Anything at all.”</p><p> </p><p>Oboro takes a second to think. “I know something really bad happened to me,” he says darkly. The atmosphere of the group drops dead serious as they wait for him to elaborate. “I don’t know what, but sometimes there are bad feelings and glimpses of memories that I can’t place. I’ve been having it all day and I don’t know what they are. I’m not sure if I want to know right now.” He sighs and curls in on himself just a bit. “It’s a lot to deal with. I want to know what happened to me, but I also don’t? Does that make any sense?”</p><p> </p><p>“It does,” Shouta answers immediately, making sure to validate Oboro’s feelings. He doesn’t have to say anything more than that.</p><p> </p><p>There seems to be a bit of weight lifted off Oboro when he hears Shouta’s answer. He’s a little more confident now, a little more like the Oboro they all remember. He struggles to get his thoughts out. “The article says I died, and Nemuri said she thought I was dead, so does that mean, that day at Tasomiya, I really did…die?”</p><p> </p><p>The group falls into silence. “Yes,” Shouta answers solemnly. When Hizashi looks at him, he swears he can see the memory replaying itself within Shouta’s eyes. This is incredibly hard for him too.</p><p> </p><p>Oboro swallows thickly. “How am I here now?”</p><p> </p><p>“There was an accident with a rewind quirk involved,” Hizashi explains when he realizes that Shouta is barely making his way through this conversation. He purposefully leaves Eri out, unsure of whether Shouta still blamed himself for letting Eri get so close to Kurogiri. “It was really powerful.”</p><p> </p><p>“So powerful it can beat death?” Oboro asks in disbelief.</p><p> </p><p>“It seems so,” Hizashi answers.</p><p> </p><p>“But there’s more to it than just my death and the rewind quirk, isn’t there? Something else happened.” Oboro questions further, getting into territory that Hizashi would much rather avoid. No one can even say a word. All three of them just nod in confirmation. There’s only so much they know about what happened to Oboro when he was being turned into Kurogiri, but from the awful things the Dr. Ujiko and All for One hinted at, it was hell to go through whether he was technically alive during those experiments or not. Hizashi thinks that maybe it’s better if Oboro never remembers any of it.</p><p> </p><p>Oboro seems to draw the same conclusion. “I think that’s all I want to know right now,” he announces blankly. He’s trying to make eye contact with the rest of the group, but he’s not really seeing them. There’s a glazed and distant look he has on his face that makes it seem like he’s not mentally present anymore. Oboro tries to ground himself in better thoughts. “Can we talk about something else?”</p><p> </p><p>Hizashi is at a loss for words. Its obvious now that Oboro is remembering more about the past 15 years than he can even put into words. That fear of knowing the truth didn’t come from nowhere. The more Oboro remembers, whether subconsciously or not, the more danger he’s in for a complete shutdown if his brain turns back into mist and his body can’t communicate with it. There are so many things fucked up about this situation.</p><p> </p><p>Shouta falls silent too, likely trying to get over reliving his own trauma. It feels like highschool all over again, but the worse half after Oboro died. Hizashi is brought back to the time after the incident, when Shouta would isolate himself and Hizashi would have no idea how to reach him. There’s also that fire deep down that’s burning Hizashi from the inside, like it wants to come out. All that anger and frustration is just boiling underneath the surface.</p><p> </p><p>Its Nemuri that’s able to pick up the conversation and move it to a much better place. Hizashi can’t help but be a little bit jealous by how easily she can recover from such an emotional topic. She clears her throat and speaks up. “Well I know one thing that might interest you, Oboro.” She’s got a cheeky expression on that even peaks Hizashi’s curiosity. “Someone proposed to Shouta recently.”</p><p> </p><p>“What?!” Hizashi, Oboro, and surprisingly Shouta, exclaim at the same time.</p><p> </p><p>“You won’t even believe it. She’s a hero too. The Smile Hero: Ms. Joke.” Nemuri answers with a devilish grin. “She’s my good friend. They actually got together right after Shouta and Hizashi graduated when they were just starting out their hero gigs—”</p><p> </p><p>“These are lies.” Shouta interrupts, trying to preserve whatever small shreds of privacy he still had over his fictitious love life. “She is telling you lies.”</p><p> </p><p>“Then how come you never tell us about how you guys became friends?” Hizashi questions, allowing those horrid feelings slowly disappear.</p><p> </p><p>“We are just professional acquaintances. And we met as underground heroes so obviously I can’t just tell people about that,” Shouta defends himself again.</p><p> </p><p>Finally, Oboro’s grin comes back to his face and he pokes Shouta in the shoulder. “I think we’re missing the point here. You fell for someone called Ms. Joke? Mr.Pretends-Not-To-Have-A-Single-Funnybone-In-His-Body falls in love with The Smile Hero? Somehow I can actually see that happening.”</p><p> </p><p>Hizashi and Nemuri chuckle at that. “She’s actually really great company. And genuinely hilarious.” Nemuri adds.</p><p> </p><p>“That’s it. I need to know everything.” Oboro announces to the group. “Not just Shouta’s love life. I wanna hear about you two as well. I can’t even imagine what kind of love life you’ve had, Nemuri. And don’t think your off the hook either, ‘Zashi. I’m sure a hunk like you is just reeling in admirers left and right.”</p><p> </p><p>Hizashi feels himself redden at the thought of having to explain his romantic adventures, mostly because he was fucking disaster in that department. But if it made Oboro feel better, then why not talk about it? Its not like Nemuri and Shouta don’t already know. And Oboro is one of his best friends, so he’s bound to find out about it sooner or later.</p><p> </p><p>And if Hizashi is being honest, he likes the idea of being able to share about their lives with Oboro. He’d never thought he’d get this chance.</p><p> </p><p>The rest of the night the group talks on and on about what they’ve been up to the last 15 years and the stupid decisions they’ve all made. They talk about their love lives, their lives as pro-heroes, what they do on the side, how they all got into UA as teachers. As much as it saddens Hizashi that Oboro wasn’t around to share those adventures with them, Hizashi has decided not to look back, but to look forward. He may not have been there then, but Oboro is here now and that’s enough.</p><p> </p><p>Because if Oboro is here now, that means that he’s got a real chance at a good future, one that doesn’t end with him dead or in the hands of the enemy. Oboro has got a shot at a future a hero like him deserved all those years ago. Fate might have stolen his life, but somehow a miracle has brought him back. Hizashi isn’t going to waste this time hung up being angry about how it all happened.</p><p> </p><p>For now, he’s going to move forward, and hopefully that anger will disappear along the way.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>***</p><p>…</p><p> </p><p>Somewhere just outside UA, a small fly flutters down a dark alley. At the end of the alley is a man with nothing but clothes on his back and loyalty to the PLF in his heart. As stupid as he thinks his current mission is, it’s the will of Redestro that he follows, and if Redestro says some 20-year-old brat is the best person to follow now, he supposes he’ll just have to obey. He lets the fly land on his ear and listens as if the bug could speak.</p><p> </p><p>To most people in the world, it can’t, but to the man in the alley, the little spy fly spills all the secrets no one else would know about. His quirk was especially good for spying. More importantly, the bug tells the man in the alley all the times it saw a purple, mist-like warp gate open up in UA.</p><p> </p><p>The man in the alley dials a number and waits for the line to be picked up. “Commander? Seems like those hunches were right. My flies have seen a few warp gates open up around the campus. Kurogiri is definitely here somewhere.”</p><p> </p><p>As stupid as this mission may be, its about to get way more dangerous.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>...Did you really think they'd get a happy ending that easily?</p><p>The ride don't stop when you get the reunion. No no, angst train stops for no one.</p><p>AAAAND thanks for all those who got through my teasing and kept up with the story this far!! I was so excited to post this and hopefully its what you guys were hoping for. I think its pretty good. And I swear, the next chapters will be about how Kurogiri became Shirakumo again because that's a whooooole mini-plotline on its own. </p><p>I also wanted to add that I might want to write this scene again but this time in Shirakumo's POV. If ever, I'll just make it a one shot and group it together in a series. </p><p>Also also I just wanted to add in a disclaimer. Like tbh I don't really ship EraserJoke, but then again, as you know I don't really do the whole romance-ships thing. I was just trying to use it here like a little inside joke (pun intended). BUT I do think they are at least somewhat friends, or as friendly as Aizawa can manage with people who aren't Nemuri and Hizashi. But ya know what fam? Ship who you want! Its a fandom, these aren't real people. PROJECT YOURSELF ALL YOU WANT. Just like, squint if you wanna see any ship in the story haha.</p><p>I don't even know why, but I love Ms.Joke and hell yeah she would be friends (or girlfriends if thats more you flow) with Midnight. I feel like they are both heroes who would give a big FU to the patriarchy and be really good friends. I have an entire headcannon about this on my tumblr if you wanna see it.</p><p>Next chapter is going to be an Eri and Dadzawa chapter!! And thank you to all those who keep writing lovely comments! I really appreciate it guys!!</p><p>(side note, if you guys got any sad songs I can listen to while I write some emotional heavy scenes let me know. I was listening to Everything Stays Music Box edition while I wrote this chapter and the FEELS)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. The Things We Don't Say</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Me: Just a small dash of Dadzawa content<br/>Also me, spilling 15 gallons of Dadzawa content: Perfection.</p><p>Also, I forgot to add this in the notes of the previous chapter, but like, I think there are some friendships that even if you haven't seen each other in forever, you can still pick up right where you left off. Its not all friendships, just the special ones. And I'd like to think that the rooftop squad has that kind of friendship. I actually had an experience like that with my cousin a few months ago. We used to be really close before she moved away. And its been almost ten years since I'd seen her and then she visited. It was awkward at first but eventually we found our beat. And its was so easy to just fall back into it again. Sometimes, its that easy. Sometimes its not. But such is life. Love the friends you have dear readers! Go show someone how much you appreciate their company! Live life! Be kind! Let yourself enjoy the things you have and the person you are!</p><p>Anyway back to the fic.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Shouta walks to the 1A dorms alone, taking the moment of silence to enjoy the cool night air and process everything that had happened that day: his and Hizashi’s wild goose chase to find Oboro, the heart-attack-giving phone call, Nemuri basically bulldozing over their friend, and then the rooftop and <em>finally</em> seeing Oboro again after so many years.</p><p> </p><p>Him, Hizashi, and Nemuri talked for hours about what they’d been up to and how their lives turned out while Oboro absorbed every bit of information with awe or laughter. He seemed happy, ‘seemed’ being the operative word. Shouta isn’t optimistic enough to believe that suddenly having Oboro back means things are going to get better so quickly. For Oboro, or for all of them actually, it is going to be an uphill battle to try and find some kind of normalcy again.</p><p> </p><p>At least for tonight though, he can set that problem aside. Nezu had called them while they were on the rooftop after the mouse had finally gotten a hold of Tsukuachi. The detective is preparing things at the hospital so Oboro can get some neural scans and figure out what’s going on in his head. Its going to be ready tomorrow afternoon. Nezu was nice enough to offer a room in the faculty housing for Oboro to stay in until they can find more suitable accommodations. It surprised Eraserhead that Nezu even allowed them to stay on that rooftop for as long as they did considering Oboro might still have parts of Kurogiri in him; what more giving Oboro a room on campus, but Nezu had reasoned that Oboro obviously felt safest at UA and around his friends. Sending him away might actually increase the danger of Kurogiri’s brain patterns arising in him. As Nezu explained, in the grander scheme of things, it would be a great help to hero society and a step towards taking down the League of Villains if Kurogiri remained out of the picture permanently. At least in the faculty housing, he’s surrounded by dozens of pros rather than at a hospital full of civilians if anything really goes bad. Plus, Oboro was a former UA student who gave his life paying the hero’s price. He deserved to feel safe after the hell he went through, even if he doesn’t remember it.</p><p> </p><p>It was also pretty late and no one really had the energy to deal with another problem today. Shouta had been the one to suggest they start heading back since he still had to pick up Eri. It was way past her bedtime even if it was a Friday. Oboro was nearly falling asleep on the rooftop, all of the adrenaline liking leaving his body once he felt secure enough to let his guard down. Hizashi and Nemuri were bringing him back to the faculty housing to get his ankle fixed and let him settle in for the night. There are still a lot of unknowns to Oboro’s whole situation, but nonetheless, Shouta is content with how things seem to be looking up for them.</p><p> </p><p>Once he reaches the 1A dorms, the first thing he notices is that there is only one set of lights on, coming from the kitchen area. Usually those teens are up till late doing whatever it was teenagers did in the darkest hours of the night. Sometimes it was class videogame night, or class movie night, or class boardgame night (that one was an actual nightmare because someone thought Monopoly with Bakugo and Midoriya was a good idea), so to see most of the dorm lights dark at only 11pm was surprising. If those problem children finally gave into Tokoyami’s suggested “summoning circle night” and Aizawa finds a demon in there, he swears he’s really going to pull through with the expelling all of them this time (he won’t but he can dream).</p><p> </p><p>He briskly walks up the front steps of the dorm and slowly pushes the door open. He’s only able to open the door about a half of a meter when it hits something heavy with a soft <em>thunk. </em>Aizawa squeezes the rest of the way through the opening and lets his eyes adjust to the darkness of the room. When he’s finally able to peer down at what he hit, the sight instantly puts him on guard.</p><p> </p><p>There on the floor is Kirishima Eijiro, eyes closed and his head stopping the door from opening all the way. Apparently having his head bumped by the door didn’t faze him because the kid doesn’t move at all. That’s actually very concerning. Its almost like he’s dead.</p><p> </p><p>Aizawa’s heart rate picks up as he spares a glance at the rest of the room. It’s a complete mess; the tables are moved around, some of the pillows are scattered on the floor, he’s pretty sure that’s one of Tokoyami’s collectable swords in the corner of the room. Each of his students are similarly looking dead to the world as they all lay in awkward positions around the common area. There’s barely any sound and for some reason unrolled toilet paper hangs from every possible ledge. All Aizawa can think is that someone had come in and attacked his students while he was reminiscing on the rooftop. He let them get attacked again. He let his students get hurt <em>again</em>.</p><p> </p><p>He swallows the guilt and quickly crouches down to check Kirishima for a pulse and prays to whatever god or deity he can think of that these students are still alive. He reaches his hand out towards the kid’s neck, hoping beyond hope that he’s okay, but the minute his fingers just barely grazes the skin, Kirishima…</p><p> </p><p>…rolls the fuck over like he’s taking nap.</p><p> </p><p>Aizawa is debating whether he should feel relieved or if he should slam his head against the wall. Of course the kid’s just asleep. A quick look over to the rest of the students only confirms this. They’re all breathing steadily, merely having settled down in the common room for what looks like an impromptu sleep over.</p><p> </p><p>Sometimes, Aizawa is more of an idiot than he cares to admit, but its been a long day so he’ll give himself a break just this once.</p><p> </p><p>The next two thoughts that fly through his mind are <em>did these teenagers just trash the dorm for a party? </em>and <em>shit I hope no one saw me trying to check if Kirishima was dead and think I’m an idiot.</em> The second thought is soon answered by a voice coming from the kitchen.</p><p> </p><p>“Aizawa-sensei? Did you just check Kirishima for a pulse?” Todoroki calls in a hushed voice.</p><p> </p><p>Aizawa looks up and finds Todoroki Shouto under the light of the kitchen island with his laptop open and a confused look on his face. Further into the kitchen is Asui Tsuyu, pouring some tea into two cups. “Aizawa-sensei, do you want a cup?” she whispers.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m good. Thank you though,” he answers as he carefully makes his way over to them, trying his best not to step on any of his sleeping students on the ground. He has to jump over Kirishima, Jirou, Yaoyorozu, and Sero, and just barely stops himself from tripping over Ojiro and Hagakure (he’s thankfully able to see the invisible girl because she’s wrapped her head and arms in toilet paper for some strange reason). He looks back at the rest of the class and does a headcount. It seems like most of them are down here. Once he reaches Todoroki and Asui in the kitchen, he asks them, “What are you all doing here? And why is there toilet paper everywhere?”</p><p> </p><p>“We were playing a game with Eri. She’s sleeping somewhere next to Uraraka by the way,” Asui replies as she takes a seat next to Todoroki and hands the boy a cup of tea. “What took you so long to get here? Was it because of the intruder false alarm? All Might-sensei came in and told us everything was fine.” She asks with a concerned look.</p><p> </p><p><em>So they told the students it was just a false alarm, </em>Aizawa thinks to himself. “Everything is fine,” he says instead.</p><p> </p><p>“So why were you checking Kirishima’s pulse?” Todoroki asks blankly. Aizawa can’t really tell if the boy is suspicious, teasing, or just curious. This student in particular was one of the hardest to read. He hopes the kid isn’t making more conspiracy theories about teachers having secret love children again. Todoroki once, very seriously, explained his ‘Shinsou is Aizawa’s Secret Love Child’ theory to Midnight and that only fueled her and Mic’s teasing even more.</p><p> </p><p>“I was worried when he didn’t wake up after I accidentally hit his head on the door,” Aizawa answers with just as much monotone. It was true enough.</p><p> </p><p>“Kirishima’s quirk allows him to be an unbreakable punching bag. If he’s barely affected from taking a hit from Bakugo, he definitely won’t wake up from bumping his head on the door.” Asui points out humorously. It makes sense that Kirishima really can’t feel smaller hits anymore.</p><p> </p><p>Aizawa chuckles just a little bit. “Fair point. But why is there unrolled toilet paper everywhere?”</p><p> </p><p>“We were playing Eraserhead vs the 1A Villains,” Todorok explains, making Aizawa inwardly fluster (not that he’d ever let that show). “Midoriya said he used to play All Might rescues Mom and had an All Might onesie and he thought Eri might like an Eraserhead version of the game. He even made her a costume and we used the toilet paper as a capture weapon. Uraraka made it float and so that Eri could throw it farther. It looked like it made her feel better.”</p><p> </p><p>That last phrase nabs Aizawa’s attention. “What happened? Was she feeling bad before you started playing?”</p><p> </p><p>“Aizawa-sensei,” Asui calls his attention to her. “She thinks you’re upset with her.”</p><p> </p><p>That catches him off guard. “What? Why?”</p><p> </p><p>“She didn’t really want to talk about it, but it was something about her imaginary friend, Mr. Purple. I think it might have also been about how you disappeared during her and Shinsou’s training today. At least that’s what Midoriya said Shinsou said.” Asui answers and taps the tip of her chin. “I know you probably aren’t really mad at her, but she believes you are. I think you should make it clear to her that whatever happened, she’s not to blame.”</p><p> </p><p>It is time like these that Aizawa is so grateful for students like Asui who are incredibly observant and emotionally perceptive. Its likely because she’s the one who always took care of her younger siblings that she has the skill to read a child’s feelings so easily, something that Aizawa can only wish he had. As much as he tries to be emotionally supportive of his students, there are things that slip his view (Bakugo’s unaddressed trauma from constantly being targeted and kidnapped proving to be the latest and most painful example). But at least this time, he knows exactly what Eri is upset about.</p><p> </p><p>Oboro doesn’t know this, but Eri was the one who rewound him back to being him. Kurogiri had actually been following Aizawa and Yamada once he escaped prison (another problem they’ll have to discuss with the Hero Commission in the future). It was because he stalked Aizawa from the shadows that Kurogiri was able to meet Eri. Eri had even told Aizawa about her imaginary friend Mr. Purple, but at the time they had believed it was Eri’s way of coping with her trauma and suddenly being thrust into a new environment. No one could have known then that her imaginary friend wasn’t so imaginary.</p><p> </p><p>That cluelessness was happening again now too. Aizawa had known Eri had been very confused and troubled finding out that her imaginary friend was actually a real person and that she accidentally may have transformed him using her quirk that she’s already afraid of. The incident once again reignited her fears of being dangerous and hurting people, even if what she did was actually helpful in the long run. Though, had it been someone else the power hit, the result may have been deadly. It was a very complicated situation to explain to a little girl and Aizawa couldn’t exactly ask her therapist what to do considering that Kurogiri was involved and they were trying to keep this information from spreading to anyone outside their investigation circle, lest they possibly put that person in danger too. Aizawa had tried to explain to her that it wasn’t her fault and that she hadn’t done anything wrong, but it was obvious that the whole incident still troubled her. However, Aizawa had no clue part of the things bothering the little girl was that she thought he was mad at her. He could <em>never</em> be mad at her. It was physically impossible for him.</p><p>        </p><p>Once again, it is one of his students teaching him rather than the other way around. “Thank you for telling me, Asui,” he says. “I’ll make she knows.”</p><p> </p><p>“That’s good,” she nods kindly and takes a sip of her tea. “I’ll go get Eri for you. Uraraka and her sleeping somewhere under the blanket fort.” The girl gets up and easily maneuvers her way around her sleeping classmates.</p><p> </p><p>“Aizawa-sensei,” Todoroki mutters while Asui is gone. “Did something happen tonight?”</p><p> </p><p>“Like All Might said, it was just a false alarm,” Aizawa states, trying his best to dissuade any worry.</p><p> </p><p>“We actually heard Mic-sensei say something. It wasn’t very clear, but we were pretty sure it was him,” Todoroki pushes on. Aizawa doesn’t like where this is going. Its true that on the rooftop Hizashi was a little louder than was appropriate, but he didn’t think he was loud enough to be heard from the dorms. Maybe spending all that time with Hizashi was breaking his eardrums. Todoroki continues. “Something about a ‘mini-Shouta’?”</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>Damn it, Mic.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>Aizawa gives the kid a curious side-glance and raises his eyebrow, daring the kid to keep talking and see what kind of hell he’s going to open upon himself. He’s already told Todoroki that, no, Shinsou is not his secret love child and not to pry into other people’s lives like that. As smart as Todoroki may be, he’s very much clueless when it comes to social cues and behaviors.</p><p> </p><p>“Is there a mini-Eraserhead?” Todoroki dare asks with a deadpan tone and Aizawa barely has enough will power to stop himself from face palming. UA’s class 1a, true prodigy children right here.</p><p> </p><p>“No.” Aizawa will not elaborate.</p><p> </p><p>Todoroki shrugs like he expected that answer. He already knows the kid is about to start writing more conspiracy theories once Aizawa leaves the room.</p><p> </p><p>“Here you go, Aizawa-sensei,” Asui finally returns with Eri in her arms. The little girl is in a black long-sleeved sweatshirt, black jogging pants, with tiny socks on her feet that are mostly black except for the kitten face design that covers the toe area. She’s also got some unrolled toilet paper around her neck like a capture weapon and what looks to be swimming-goggles on her head that they colored with a yellow marker to make it resemble Eraserhead’s own.</p><p> </p><p>Aizawa has to stifle the chuckle that bubbles up in the back of his throat, if only to preserve the respect his students have for him. He’ll take a picture of this later.</p><p> </p><p>He gently picks up Eri out of Asui’s arms. “Thank you,” he says. “Also whose goggles are these? I don’t think I’ve ever gotten her swimming goggles. And where did you get the costume?”</p><p> </p><p>“Its Shoji’s goggles but he said he didn’t need it and that we could color it with permanent marker. Eri can keep it. The other stuff are just things Midoriya got her from the store.” Asui assures and then goes to grab a plastic bag off the counter. “Here are her normal clothes. Her shoes are over by Kirishima.”</p><p> </p><p>Aizawa nods. “Thank you. I’ll have to remember to pay Midoriya back for that.” Before he turns to head out, he reminds them, “Make sure to clean this place later. And thank you for taking care of Eri for me.”</p><p> </p><p>“Your welcome, Aizawa-sensei,” Asui replies.</p><p> </p><p>“Tell Eri she can come back and play Eraserhead here whenever she wants,” Todoroki adds in. Aizawa is surprised but happy that Eri has people who want to play with her.</p><p> </p><p>He gives the two a soft smile and nods goodbye, carefully finding a pathway to the door that doesn’t step on anyone. He puts Eri’s shoes in the bag and readjusts his hold on her. Its colder outside than it is in the dorms and Eri might get a little chilly, so Aizawa makes sure to bundle her up as much as he can with his capture weapon (not much of a blanket but it’ll do) and holds her close to his chest to keep her warm, letting her head rest on his shoulder.</p><p> </p><p>Aizawa carefully and quietly makes his way back to the Faculty Housing trying not to disturb the sleeping girl. He always likes these soft quiet moments when no one is around and it’s just him and Eri. Its peaceful and makes him forget there’s anything else in the world besides the two of them. The little girl tightens her grip on his shoulder and lets out a confused whimper. She must be waking up because of the cold.</p><p> </p><p>“Its okay, Eri,” Aizawa soothes as he brings up a hand to rub her back. “Its just me. We’re going back to your room now.”</p><p> </p><p>Aizawa spares a glance down at her. Eri’s sleepy eyes blink open slightly for a few seconds, but once she sees his face, she nuzzles back into her sleeping position, seemingly feeling safe in his hold. “M’kay,” Eri breathes softly. Aizawa smiles.</p><p> </p><p>Eri doesn’t go back to sleep after that. Its obvious that she’s trying but her breathing is giving her away. Aizawa can’t help but see his small moment of opportunity with just the two of them here. “Eri,” he whispers with gentle concern. “Do you think I’m mad at you?”</p><p> </p><p>She hides her face in the crook of his neck and says nothing for a few moments. Aizawa thinks for a second that maybe she did fall asleep, but that’s quickly proven wrong when she says a very small “Yes” under her breath. Aizawa hates how scared she sounds.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m not mad about what happened with your imaginary friend,” he tries to explain.</p><p> </p><p>“But I used my quirk when you weren’t around,” Eri replies sorrowfully. “And you’ve been sad every since then, and its because of what happened.”</p><p> </p><p>Admittedly, Aizawa had been uneasy ever since the incident. The thought that he let Eri get so close to Kurogiri and that Shirakumo was back had put Aizawa in a difficult position the past few days, but he’d honestly believed he hid it well. Apparently not. “Eri, I know you didn’t mean to use your quirk, it was an accident. And if I’m sad, its not because of you. Its probably because the other problem children are doing something ridiculous again,” he jokes. He doubts Eri will ever completely understand how problematic class 1a actually is, but that does get her to giggle just a tad, which makes Aizawa melt. “I’m not mad at you. I was just worried about you because I want to make sure you’re safe and happy.”</p><p> </p><p>“I’m sorry,” she whimpers, but that only confuses Aizawa more.</p><p> </p><p>“For what?”</p><p> </p><p>“For being sad and making you worry about me,” she replies.</p><p> </p><p>He hugs the sweet small child a little tighter. “You don’t have to apologize for anything. I’m an adult and its my job to make sure you’re happy. All you need to do is be a kid.”</p><p> </p><p>Eri gives Aizawa a sleepy, confused looked. It’s a heavy topic to be talking about this late past her bedtime and Aizawa feels slightly bad for bringing up the conversation, but he needed her to know that he wasn’t and could never be mad at her for just trying to be a kid and having an imaginary friend. He doubts Eri will fully comprehend what he’s trying to tell her, and he’ll probably have to repeat it again tomorrow, but for now he’s content with what he’s said.</p><p> </p><p>“Its late, Eri. You should go back to sleep,” he remarks softly. “Tomorrow I’ll get you more apples.” He adds in just to make her feel better.</p><p> </p><p>“Really?” Eri asks. Aizawa doesn’t miss the hopeful upturn of her tone.</p><p> </p><p>“Yes.”</p><p> </p><p>He feels Eri hug him a little tighter. “Thank you,” she whispers as she slowly drifts back to sleep.</p><p> </p><p>There are words that get trapped in his throat. A phrase he’s not sure he has the right to say to her echoes in the forefront of his mind and won’t go away. He doesn’t know whether her grandfather will wake up from his coma one day and try to get custody. He doesn’t know how these feelings will affect her, or if she’ll even want to hear this from him. He doesn’t want to hurt her, she’s already been hurt too much, and these words hold so much promise, so much hope, that he’s not sure he can ever live up to what they’d mean if he let himself speak the truth. For now though, he’ll keep it to himself, let it repeat over and over again like a mantra in his heart even if he’ll never find the strength or courage to say it. The words form in his mind without his consent.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>I love you.</em>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I actually really enjoyed writing this chapter. Just a small break before we get back to the hellstorm that is Oboro's life now. But yeah, this chapter was pretty self-indulgent, but don't worry, there are some bits of info and themes that are going to play out in later chapters. And as a side, I had to google imaginary friends as a coping form for trauma, and like, its actually is?? Not all the time though, but from my midnight google research, it can be for some kids. Also, we stan Eri liking apples. That is the cutest my dudes.</p><p>I also kinda wanted to write a fluff one-shot called Eraserhead Eri vs the 1A Villains. Not much angst, just very fluffy and sweet. </p><p>And if you guys want to see the themes I've got planned for each character, it is below. Im not gonna spoil how it ends for them though, so this is just based on what I've already posted:</p><p>For Aizawa, I guess a kinda important thing to note here is how he can't verbally say I love you to other characters. Its obvious in his actions how he feels, but verbally saying it takes some commitment and a really big leap of faith. Its the idea that choosing to hope and to love is somewhat difficult for him, an affect of Oboro's death. Heartbreak hurts my dudes. So this is going to be a theme for Aizawa in later chapters, watch out for that.</p><p>For Hizashi, I kind of hinted at it in his POV chapters, but something I thought was good for him was the theme of anger and avoiding feelings. Mic takes on a whole lotta jobs, but as the popular headcanon goes, this is just his form of distraction, much like Aizawa's was training like hell. So look out for that too!</p><p>For Oboro, you gotta guess my dudes. I ain't gonna spoil this boi.</p><p>Other characters that are also getting themes: Eri, Nemuri, Shigaraki, Dabi, and Toga!</p><p>Ok I'm done. Thanks for making it this far, reader!! Next 2 chapters are going to be plot building and then a BIG emotional two part that I've got planned. Thanks for sticking around! (AND FNVKJDNF THANK YOU ALL FOR THE COMMENTS ON THE LAST CHAPTER. THEY WERE ALL SO NICE. I HAVEN'T FINISHED READING ALL OF THEM BUT I AM GETTING TO IT I SWEAR)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Nightmare</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>shorter chapter this week! Sorry I originally wanted to get this up earlier but I forgot.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>Oboro is strapped to a chair. That is the first thing he notices. The next is that his arms are wrapped around him. He’s in a straight jacket. He can’t move. He can’t even talk. </em>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <em>He’s dreaming. Somehow, Oboro knows he’s dreaming, but it’s so clear. It’s clearer than any dream he’s ever had; it’s almost like a memory.</em>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <em>The world around him starts to form. He’s in the middle of a white chamber, and the room is shaking. Wait no, its not a room. He’s in a truck. The truck is moving. Then realization dawns on him.</em>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <em>He’s in a prison truck.</em>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <em>He doesn’t know how he knows this, but he knows its true. He also knows that this isn’t a mix-up or mistake. He’s supposed to be here. There are two guards in front of him, both big and burly, decked out in some high level equipment. They are here to stop him if he tries to make any sudden movements. He was supposed to be asleep during the entire trip but for some reason he is awake. </em>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <em>Oboro—no, Kurogiri—knows exactly why he’s awake. Ever since that day in Tartarus with those two heroes, something inside him has fundamentally changed, as if those two heroes were a key that unlocked an old door in Kurogiri’s head. There are things he doesn’t understand that flood his mind. They aren’t exactly memories, but feelings. If he concentrates hard enough, sometimes he can even get glimpses of a…what was it? Small, furry, innocent creature… a kitten! That’s right, Nemuri named him Sushi because it was Oboro’s favorite food. Plus it was better than naming the cat Fried Chicken. Haha.</em>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <em>Who’s Nemuri?</em>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <em>Kurogiri—no wait, Oboro, he’s Oboro,—remembers the cat. It was raining that day…that day when he picked up the cat in…Tasomiya, it was raining when he was interning...when the building fell. No, no wait. These are different events.</em>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <em>Suddenly, the truck makes a violent turn and brings Kurogiri back to reality. It jolts him and the other two guards. The entire vehicle is spinning uncontrollably and Kurogiri is sure this was not part of their trip itinerary. Eventually the truck comes to a grinding halt and the two guards begin shouting and loading their weapons. He can’t hear what they’re saying.</em>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <em>The doors to the truck swing open. Its too bright outside to see and he has to adjust his eyes, but as soon as his vision comes together, the two guards are already dead on the ground. In front of him stand a group of dangerous looking people, all strangers to him, all but one.</em>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <em>“Geez Kurogiri, am I glad to you,” Spinner says as he makes his way towards him and undoes the restraints. He flashes a relieved smile. “You have no idea how crazy its been without you.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <em>Kurogiri doesn’t reply. He knows he can talk, but for some reason words just won’t form. Spinner picks up on this. </em>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <em>“Don’t worry, Shigaraki is okay,” the young man tries to dissuade worry. “He’s actually running an entire secret army, which is who these guys are.” He gestures towards the group of strangers waiting for them. “We’re here to rescue you. These guys don’t exactly hold Stain’s ideology but they’re very…efficient I guess you could say.” There’s something like distain in his voice as he says that. Finally, the last restraint is off and Kurogiri is able to remove the straight jacket.</em>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <em>Spinner helps him up and the two of them exit the truck and get out on to the road. The scene that greets his eyes is what he can only call a bloodbath. Apparently his truck must have had an escort because there are several other government vehicles that scatter the road. Many of them are stained with the blood of the now dead drivers and passengers. </em>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <em>“The League is really on the hot seat right now, so on missions like these we let the army do it the way they know how,” Spinner whispers to Kurogiri. “Its was almost impossible to even get them to agree on a rescue operation for you. The League has suffered some…heavy losses. First Magne, and now Twice…they’re gone. We really need you right now, Kurogiri.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <em>Spinner is waiting for Kurogiri to say something, but he can’t. He isn’t registering what’s being said. He’s too disgusted with the blood that now stains the street. Its strange because Kurogiri was never so perturbed by blood, violence, or death, but right now, he can’t handle this. Hearing about his comrades’ deaths, knowing that these people bleeding out on the street died because of him, it irks him. </em>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <em>Deep down, he knows its because of something those heroes unlocked that day in Tartarus. What are these feelings? Why does he feel this way? Why only now? What else do those heroes have on him?</em>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <em>“Kurogiri?” Spinner calls him back, concerned. “We need you to make us a warp-gate to these coordinates. Shigaraki is there. Do you think you can do that?” Kurogiri is given a slip of paper with the coordinates to a place he is not familiar with. </em>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <em>“Yes,” Kurogiri answers automatically. This was easy, he didn’t have to think hard about his abilities or usefulness to Shigaraki Tomura and Master. Its feels like slipping right back into where he belongs, which is perhaps why he’s worried about it so much. </em>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <em>There are questions he doesn’t have the answers to, and new feelings that are surfacing which are stopping him from functioning properly. He doesn’t know what this all means, and he’s worried that he might hurt Shigaraki Tomura if he gets too close, especially if the heroes still have ahold of him somehow. But if he can get to the heroes and make them answer his questions…</em>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <em>Kurogiri opens the warp-gate to the coordinates Spinner had supplied. If what Spinner said is true, then telling these army guys would only enrage them more because then this whole operation would have been for nothing, and there might still be people alive in those trucks. Plus he doubts they’ll let him go find the heroes alone, and bringing them with him to find the two might only end in a fight. Something like fear pulls at him when he imagines the two heroes bloodied and beaten.</em>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <em>Kurogiri and Spinner watch the others go through the warp-gate until it’s just the two of them. “Spinner,” Kurogiri says carefully. “I need you to tell Shigaraki Tomura I’m sorry if this puts a dent in his plans, but I think the heroes still have control over me somehow and I don’t want to hurt him.” </em>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <em>“What? No you have to come with us. We’ll deal with it toge—“ Spinner reaches out to grab Kurogiri, but Kurogiri swiftly pushes him through the warp-gate and closes it. He feels bad, which is strange. He really did want to ask Spinner for help. As staunch as that kid was to Stain, he was also one of the more sane people of the group. Kurogiri could always appreciate that, but bringing Spinner along also meant putting him in the crossfire between the heroes and himself. Kurogiri doesn’t want anyone else getting hurt for or because of him again.</em>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <em>Speaking of, Kurogiri goes to check if there’s anyone still alive in those trucks. However, when he bends down and tries to reach out to the bodies, it isn’t his hand that he sees. The mist like appendage is gone and now he has a real hand, with flesh and olive skin, as if he was just a normal person. He glances at himself in one of the broken side mirrors, and to his utter surprise, there is a teenage boy with blue cloudlike hair starring back. </em>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <em>Wait, wait that’s right. He’s Oboro. </em>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <em>And now there’s an awful, devastating realization that these people are dead because of him. He knew that already, but now that feeling comes back tenfold. He has to save them. Oboro pushes past the fear and starts the pumping the closest person’s chest in order to get their heart started again. But its useless. All of them are already long gone, and now he’s got blood all over his hands and its spreading. Its enveloping his skin. </em>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <em>He tries to wipe off the blood but it doesn’t work. The blood is starting to make its way up his body and into his mouth. He’s choking on it now. He can’t breathe He can’t breathe He can’t—</em>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>Oboro wakes up in a cold sweat gasping for air.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He panics and jolts up from the bed, searching the room for anything familiar that might help him figure out where he is, but its too dark to see. Then, there in the corner of his eye near him is a green blurry light. Once his eyes focus on the object, he realizes it’s a digital clock reading 5:17am.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He takes a moment to let the green light illuminate the room. It’s a bedroom, with nothing really out of the ordinary. That’s when he finally remembers; he’s been given a room at the UA Faculty Housing after waking up 15 years into the future. Shouta, Hizashi, and Nemuri are also in the building if he ever needs them.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He’s safe here.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>But that dream, it was so vivid, so real. He can still feel the blood on his hands and the smell of dead bodies in the air. And the lizard-like man, Spinner as he remembers the name, is far too detailed to have been conjured up in his mind. He can clearly imagine the young man from the scales on his skin to the pink hairs on his head. Its almost as if…</p>
<p> </p>
<p>…as if those were memories rather than dreams.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The idea makes his gut coil. Oboro doesn’t know what this means for him, but he is nearly certain a good portion of that dream may have actually happened. Probably not that last part when he was drowning in blood, but everything before that. It felt too real, too familiar. He guesses these are memories from the 15 years he missed, and perhaps if he follows this thread of thoughts, he can recall more, but every time he closes his eyes, he only sees the bodies and only feels the blood oozing on his skin and only smells the stench of death.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Oboro finds he doesn’t really want to remember that.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>After starring at the ceiling for a good thirty minutes, he realizes he’s probably not getting any more sleep. Doesn’t matter, he’s always been an early riser. Granted, four in the morning is incredibly early, he’s also already missed the last 15 years. He can sleep when he’s dead again, pun intended. Maybe the common area kitchen has some food. He’s willing to bet Hizashi still eats those really sugary cereals they used to like so much.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>With that, he makes his way to the kitchen, trying as best he can to not see the dead that flood his vision every time he blinks.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>lil bit of plot building, lil bit of angst. Cloudson is confused.</p>
<p>Random thought but I think two songs that represent Eri and Aizawa's relationship well is I Could Never Be from StevenUniverse and Only Exception by Paramore BECAUSE ERI IS AIZAWA'S EXCEPTION FJNVDFLNVFS HE LIKES PUTTING COMFORTABLE DISTANCE BETWEEN HIMSELF AND OTHER PEOPLE BUT THEN ERI WALKS IN AND SMASHES DOWN THE WALLS LIKE ITS MADE OF PAPER. I MEAN I KNOW A LOT OF PEOPLE USE IT ROMANTICALLY BUT LISTEN, IT'D BE GOOD AS A CHILD-PARENT SONG TOO. That is all.</p>
<p>Next chapter Eri and Oboro (re)meet. Thanks for sticking with me guys!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0012"><h2>12. Seeds of Trouble</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>...hi, i can explain my hiatus...but first, here's the chapter that gave me writer's block. One More Take (For Old Time's Sake) Act 2 begins.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Despite the disastrous dream he woke up from, Oboro is having a considerably good day so far. Its still 6:30am so that may change, but right now he’s got a bowl of delicious sugary cereal in front of him and the rest of the day to look forward to. He’ll keep his hopes up.</p><p> </p><p>He’s just happy Hizashi still eats the same cereal he did in highschool. It was on the top shelf of the kitchen common room labeled “PRESENT MIC’S, DO NOT EAT OR ELSE.” Oboro laughed at the warning and took the cereal box anyways. Hizashi has a job and money now; he can buy himself some more.</p><p> </p><p>Oboro is pulled out of his own thought mid-munch when a small gasps sounds from the other end of the room. “Hello? Is someone there?” he calls out into the empty space.</p><p> </p><p>There’s another sharp intake of breath as a reply, but it sounds so small. Oboro glances around the area until finally he finds the source of the noise just behind the corner of the hallway leading to the other rooms.</p><p> </p><p>A friendly smile grows on his face as Oboro waves at the little horned girl. “Hi there! I’m Shirakumo. We met yesterday. You’re Eri, right?”</p><p> </p><p>The little girl is hesitant at first but then nods uncertainly. Oboro just keeps grinning. “Are you hungry?” he asks. “I have Present Mic’s cereal. Its really sugary.”</p><p> </p><p>“Sugary?” Eri questions.</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, like sweet and stuff.” Oboro explains cheerily. He taps the chair next to him and offers her a seat. “This cereal has marshmallows in it. And they’re different shapes and colors so that’s pretty cool. Do you want me to make you a bowl?”</p><p> </p><p>“ ’Zawa-sensei says I can’t have sweets for breakfast,” Eri complains and kicks the ground sadly. It takes a moment for Oboro to realize that ‘Zawa’ must be short for Aizawa.</p><p> </p><p>“Well cereal is technically breakfast food,” Oboro debates light heartedly. “So technically, its okay! And also, ‘Zawa is my good friend so I can convince him its fine, just this once. Promise.”</p><p> </p><p>Eri’s skepticism slowly disappears and she finally nods in agreement. “Okay,” she answers with a shy smile and heads over to the table.</p><p> </p><p>“Great, let me just get you a bowl and spoon.” Oboro does quick work to make Eri her food. He’s kind of excited. This is little girl Hizashi and Nemuri referred to as Shouta’s daughter. Oboro is more than interested to get to know the child that got Shouta showing his soft side more. “Here you go, Eri.” He sings as he pours in some milk and cereal.</p><p> </p><p>“Thank you,” she acknowledges, and then takes a bite. Her eyes instantly light up. “Its so good!”</p><p> </p><p>Oboro laughs. “Right? I can’t believe Aizawa hasn’t let you try it yet.” The two continue munching on cereal with huge smiles on. How dare Shouta not let Eri have this delicious sugary breakfast food. It’s the best. “Aizawa can be so grumpy, right?”</p><p> </p><p>“Everyone says that, but that’s not true.” Eri answers offhandedly through her chewing. “I think he’s really nice. He smiles a lot.”</p><p> </p><p>Oboro has to stop himself from choking on his cereal. Man oh man. Shouta must love Eri a whole lot for the girl to say “he smiles a lot.” Back in highschool, Shouta never smiled unless he was really, really happy. And most of the time it was because of cat videos. If he smiles a lot, that must be because of her. He laughs, “You two are really close, aren’t you?”</p><p> </p><p>Eri’s eyebrows pinch together in deliberation and worry. “Sometimes, I guess…” She frowns at the table.</p><p> </p><p>The unsettling sadness is worrisome. “What’s wrong Eri? Did something happen?” Oboro doesn’t really know if he’s the right person she should be talking to about this (considering the quick history he got of her, she’s been through quite a lot), but he’s the only one up this early and he hates seeing kids sad. “Do you want to talk about it?”</p><p> </p><p>Eri swallows her food and looks to be deliberating her answer. There’s something akin to worry in her posture, like she’s holding some deep dark secret. “Do you remember Apples?”</p><p> </p><p>Oboro is shocked by the question. “Uh, like the fruit?”</p><p> </p><p>“No, the cat,” Eri states like its supposed to be obvious. “We named it after the fruit, before I…before I used my quirk on you. You used to be purple.” Eri ends the sentence with a shamed look on her face.</p><p> </p><p>“Purple? I—wait, you have the rewind quirk?”</p><p> </p><p>“You don’t remember me, do you?” Eri sighs dishearteningly. This is confusing information to process. Of all the people to have brought him back, he didn’t expect it to be a little girl. And why purple? What was that supposed to mean?</p><p> </p><p>He doesn’t have time to ask before a third person enters the room. “Oh hey, why are you two up so early?” Nemuri questions as she walks into the common room kitchen. “And what’s up with the faces? You look like Aizawa just expelled you or something.”</p><p> </p><p>It takes a moment for Oboro to get the joke, but then he remembers Shouta is known as a teacher who expels all his students. “Uhhh...” Oboro gapes. He’s not really sure how he’s supposed to explain the conversation going on between him and Eri.</p><p> </p><p>It doesn’t matter because Eri speaks first. “What does ‘expelled’ mean?”</p><p> </p><p>“It means Aizawa is a meanie who runs his class like a sleepy dictator but actually has a soft heart for them,” Nemuri answers jokingly. Eri pouts, knowing that wasn’t the correct answer but Nemuri just laughs and ruffles her hair. “I’ll explain when you’re older and can understand the nuances of our wonderful Aizawa Shouta. Speaking of, did he say you could eat those?” Nemuri points to Eri’s cereal.</p><p> </p><p>Eri looks as if she’s about to panic. Oboro quickly steps in. “I gave it to her. I mean its technically breakfast food.”</p><p> </p><p>Nemuri huffs humorously. “If you guys get to have treats for breakfast then I want my own treats too.” She heads to the common room kitchen and checks the fridge. “Well this sucks, the only thing we have in here are a bunch of sauce bottles, some champagne, and like 3 cartons of orange juice. Why would anyone need that much orange juice?”</p><p> </p><p>“Probably for the champagne,” Oboro answers nonchalantly. “Mimosas are one quarter champagne three quarters juice, but the ratio can change depending on how strong you want your drink.”</p><p> </p><p>It takes a moment for Oboro to even realize words left his mouth. He hadn’t even been thinking about the question, but the answer just spilled out of him automatically like its something he knows by heart, which is concerning. As far as Oboro knows, he hasn’t had alcohol yet; he’s still too young, though the more he thinks about it, the more he can recall several different alcohol mixes.</p><p> </p><p>Why does he know this?</p><p> </p><p>Nemuri is starring at him, but the look on her face tells Oboro she definitely knows the answer to his question. “Uh, cool trivia. I’ll keep that in mind next time I’m at a house party.” She says in an attempt to redirect the conversation. “Anyways, do you remember the appointment you have today?”</p><p> </p><p>“The—what?” Oboro stumbles with his words, trying to ground himself back in reality.</p><p> </p><p>“We’re going to the hospital today to get you checked over, remember? We mentioned it last night,” Nemuri supplies.</p><p> </p><p>Oboro stiffens at the idea of a hospital. He doesn’t know why, but he’s scared. “Oh…yeah. I remember now. That’s cool,” he says, but the headache beginning to form in his brain suggests otherwise.</p><p> </p><p>Nemuri shoots a concerned look his way. “Its nothing serious, just a few neural scans and diagnostics tests. It will be easy. Me, Shouta, and Hizashi will be there with you.”</p><p> </p><p>Oboro just nods, trying not to show his fear. Why was he so nervous about this? “R-right...,” he stutters.</p><p> </p><p>A hand falls gently on his shoulder and Oboro doesn’t even stop himself from flinching. “Hey,” Nemuri calls his attention to her and gives him a warm smile. “I won’t let anything bad happen. Everything is going be alright.”</p><p> </p><p>Oboro nods. “I know.” He doesn’t really, but he can pretend that he’s alright, at least for right now. At least in front of others.</p><p> </p><p>“Okay.” Nemuri hums and goes back to finding herself some food. Her fingers brush the top of Oboro’s head in what’s meant to be a comforting gesture. It would have been too, had Oboro not already been so riled up.</p><p> </p><p>“They won’t hurt us.”</p><p> </p><p>Oboro is once again pulled out of his own head by Eri’s near inaudible whisper. “What?”</p><p> </p><p>“ ‘Zawa, Midnight, and Mic-sensei. They’re good.” Eri whispers again, making sure Nemuri can’t hear her. “Everyone here is good. They won’t be like the bad people from before. From your lab.”</p><p> </p><p>What?</p><p> </p><p>What is she—</p><p> </p><p>Oboro shakes his head and tries to dispel any hint of fear from his face. He doesn’t completely understand what she’s talking about, and part of him knows he doesn’t want to. “You’re right,” he finally replies with a reassuring smile on his face. “I know these guys’ll have my back no matter what.”</p><p> </p><p>Its true enough and seems to be the answer Eri was looking for, but he doesn’t miss the way her eyebrows pinch with just the slightest bit of confusion and skepticism. It reminds of him of Shouta.</p><p> </p><p>He decides to ignore the worry that bubbles up in his chest as the minutes tic by and the hour gets closer and closer to his appointment. If he doesn’t acknowledge it, then it won’t be a problem, right?</p><p> </p><p>Well that’s the way its going to have to be anyways. Shirakumo Oboro is going to get his life back. He’s lost years to whatever nightmare his life was before. He refuses to let anything stop him now. He’s moving forward, he’s getting his life back on track, and if he keeps his hopes high, nothing is going to stop him.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>hi. sorry for not updating for like uuuh i wanna 5 months? But again, thanks so much to everyone who subscribed, commented, and read while I was gone. even when I wasn't posting chapters weekly, this fic rose from like 450 kudos to 520. I really want to finish this because I have whole plot in mind, but I'm not sure how fast I can write it. Nevertheless, I'm not giving up on this fic. I put a lot self-projection into it and I ain't gonna quit yet. also sorry for a slow chapter but this chapter is going to place the seeds for the rest of the story so oof.</p><p>If you guys wanna ask me about the story or why I took so long to post, you can send me an ask on my tumblr @bnhastanning. </p><p>Thanks everyone who's still here! I'm definitely going to answer all comments! Sorry it took me so long!</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hope you enjoyed! Let me know what you guys! Yelling, crying, constructive criticism and all that jazz is welcomed!</p><p>(Also let me know if you wanna talk about my theories about what will probably ultimately become of our cloudboi)</p><p>Here's my tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/bnhastanning</p></blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>